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.
Nqobile Tshili, Chronicle Reporter THE Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) is set to launch a report that will guide the country in addressing issues to do with access to national documentation before the end of this month. The commission last…
Over fifty years since Kenya attained independence, the Nubian Community is still fighting for recognition as citizens in their country. There are multiple challenges the community faces for being treated as an alien while in their own country. Accessing fundamental…
By Kudzai Mubaiwa My passport is one of my most prized possessions. You can’t always get another one even if you have the money. This is the third essay in the six-part series guest edited by Nanjala Nyabola. Additional editing…
By Rachel Sherman In April, Coda Story’s Keren Weitzberg wrote about the biometric registration system in Kenya and the “double registered” ethnic Somali Kenyans left in limbo without ID cards. The country’s biometric system was intended to reduce incidences of…
By Emmanuel Paul Throughout history, humans have needed means of identification in the course of their daily activities. Over the years, this has evolved from sounds and other bodily signals to physical tokens like passports and ID cards among others.…
Request by Hon Aden B. Duale, MP, for Statement by the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Administration and National Security in relation to Kenyan Somalis double-registered as refugees. Download: Duale Request for Statement Kenya Parliament 15072020
UPR 37th Session; 3rd Cycle; January/February 2021 Joint submission by: Association des femmes chefs de Famille SOS-Esclaves Anti-slavery International Minority Rights Group International Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion Recommendations: Based on the above information,…
By Momodou Jarju Over two hundred and thirty-two thousand Biometric Identification Cards have been issued to Gambians since the commencement of the issuance of the document in October 2018, the Minister of Interior, Yankuba Sonko told lawmakers in Banjul on…
The Supreme Court has in a unanimous decision excluded the use of the existing voter identification card as proof of eligibility for a new one in the upcoming voter registration exercise. While agreeing with the National Democratic Congress, the plaintiff,…
Depuis quelques années, la délivrance de la Carte d’Identité Nationale se fait le plus rapidement possible. En général le délai pour obtenir ce document clé qui permet à tout citoyen de justifier son identité et sa nationalité marocaine, ne dépasse…