Not all African countries require their citizens to carry a national identity card, but the number is rapidly increasing. ECOWAS Member States have committed to introduce a common-form biometric identity card by 2017. The introduction of these new systems may be based on concerns for national security or to improve delivery of public services: but for these aims to be achieved, law and procedures must ensure that people are not arbitrarily excluded from acquiring these documents.
Every citizen should have the right to a passport, enabling international travel, which should not be removed except following due process of law (for example, from a person accused of a serious crime).
Only some African countries establish an independent judicial procedure for a person to obtain a “certificate of nationality” or alternative document that is conclusive proof that a person is a national.
By Marion Ayebazibwe Government has acknowledged mistakes in the process of acquiring new and replacing lost national identification cards. The Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Hon. Obiga Kania, was on Wednesday, 17 July 2019, responding to a matter of…
By DAVID MWERE The Huduma Namba will serve as the official sufficient proof for identification in the country and its registration will now be mandatory for access to government services if the draft Huduma Bill 2019 is enacted by the…
Guest column: Paul Kaseke For some time now, Zimbabweans have not been able to renew their passports or obtain new ones due to what the Registrar-General’s office has termed ‘an acute shortage of passport paper’. It almost seems like the…
By George Mugo In Summary: Shunned in Kenya and Zimbabwe, the Shona are unable to do business legally or own property. They were allowed to register with Huduma Namba as stateless people, but are yet to be given IDs. Over…
Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter PUBLIC hearings on the national inquiry on access to national documentation in the country are set to commence today in Matabeleland North province. In a statement, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) said the public hearings, held…
With the registry office facing a backlog of 280,000 applications, some people have waited close to a year to work or study abroad Nyasha Chingono Every morning for the past two months Eldah Makuvise, 35, has braved the cold winter…
By Bronwen Manby Abstract This paper presents a synthesis of research findings on the identification needs of Sub-Saharan African and other migrants and refugees in Egypt and Morocco, particularly focusing on children born outside the country of nationality of their…
A NUMBER of children in Masvingo are still facing challenges in acquiring birth certificates because of a number of reasons among them death of parents and problems related to legal issues, an official has said. Addressing journalists after the completion…
By Reuben Githinji Another round of Huduma Namba registration will be done for the people who missed out on the extended period, Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna has said. He said on Thursday that after the mass registration ended on May…
It is so absurd, to the extent that without an ID, one cannot legally die, which is what happened to my father. He does not have a death certificate because he did not have an ID. The state neither recognized…