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.
Joint statement by: Nubian Rights Forum, Namati Kenya, Access Now, Kenya Human Rights Commission, Haki na Sheria Initiative, Article-19 East Africa, Centre for Minority Rights Development, Katiba Institute, and Defenders Coalition. Download: Kenya-DigitalID-Joint-NGO-Press-Release_19May2023
Civil Society groups have urged the government to slow down the implementation of a Digital Identity System in Kenya. In a joint statement on Friday, the groups said past learnings must be at the heart of implementing the Digital Identity […]
Advances in technology and improvements in connectivity have given governments new capabilities, such as digitizing records, capturing biometrics, and automating processes. These improvements have enabled new concepts such as digital identity that allow human data to be converted into a […]
By Temitope Ponle Dr Omar Touray, President of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission said only six out of the 15 member states had the ECOWAS National Biometric Identity Card (ENBIC). Touray said this while presenting his […]
By Ayang Macdonald This December could usher in good tidings for citizens of the central African nation of Gabon who have gone for many years without seeing any new issuance of the national ID card. This is if things roll […]
By Ayang Macdonald Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) is hoping to be second time lucky in convincing parliament to approve its plan of making the Ghana Card the only ID document required for voter registration. The EC plans to take back […]
By Ayang Macdonald Stateless persons as well as newborns in Rwanda will be among those able to have a digital identity card if a legislative amendment proposed by the country’s government comes to fruition. The proposal to amend the 2008 […]
by Daniel Sabiiti The Parliament of Rwanda has given a green light to revise a draft law that will allow the government to start issuing digital Identity Cards (IDs) for Rwandans, stateless persons, and children at birth. The proposal was […]
What is the newly adopted Ethiopian Digital Identity Proclamation Number 1284/2023 all about? Download PDF: Ethiopian National ID Program Apr2023
Introduction Famously described as “the right to have rights,” nationality – and the identity documentation to prove this nationality – are fundamental rights in and of themselves, and operate as requirements to access a huge swath of government services and […]
Download (undated; as adopted by Parliament 30 March 2023): Ethiopia_Digital-ID-Proclamation-EN_2023 Also numbered 1284/2015 in Ethiopian calendar. Also available at: https://id.gov.et/documents/
By: Andrea Marilyn Pragashini Immanuel Since 1976, after the end of Spanish colonial domination, Western Sahara has been considered a non-self-governing territory. The legal status of the territory remains disputed with Morocco occupying a part of the territory and the Polisario Front, a […]