Categories for Uncategorized

Namibia: Bill to grant stateless people citizenship tabled

Published: 7/Aug/2024
Source: The Namibian

By Envaalde Matheus Namibia’s home affairs minister has tabled a bill that will grant people born with South West Africa (SWA) identification documents (IDs) full Namibian citizenship. Up to now, many of these individuals have been unable to get Namibian […]

Malawi insists ID card compulsory for scheduled biometric voter registration

Published: 6/Aug/2024
Source: Biometric Update

By Ayang Macdonald The Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC) has announced that biometric voter registration will begin next month as part of preparations for the country’s general elections slated for September 16, 2025. MEC Chairperson, Justice Annabel Mtalimanja, made the announcement […]

SA Citizenship Act — a matter of identity, inclusion and unity

Published: 5/Aug/2024
Source: Business Day (Johannesburg)

Chidimma Adetshina’s success should be a reason to celebrate SA’s diverse heritage By STEFANIE DE SAUDE DARBANDI The SA Citizenship Act of 1995 outlines the criteria for citizenship, which were revised after January 2013. The act now uniformly grants citizenship […]

ACmHPR Comm.801/21: Afekuru Animu Risasi Athiei (represented by the Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa) v. Republic of South Sudan

Published: 2/Aug/2024
Source: African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights

Decision adopted by the African Commission’s 80th ordinary session, closing on 2 August 2024, and included within the African Commission’s 56th and 57th Combined Activity Reports adopted on 10 March 2025 and subsequently communicated to the parties. For background to […]

South Africa: Home Affairs employee sentenced to 12 years for passport fraud

Published: 2/Aug/2024
Source: IOL (South Africa)

Durban — A Home Affairs official who had been operating with a foreign national syndicate issuing fraudulent passports with the help of South Africans was sentenced to 12 years behind bars in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday. Judy Zuma, […]

Jus Tribalis: Statelessness, Ethnicity and Registration in Kenya

Published: 1/Aug/2024
Source: Statelessness & Citizenship Review

By Samantha Balaton-Chrimes Abstract Many cases of mass statelessness arise from discrimination against groups. Accordingly, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’) and others sometimes pursue group forms of recognition in campaigns to remedy statelessness. In this article, I consider […]

Mauritania pilots digital ID app

Published: 1/Aug/2024
Source: UNDP

Governments are increasingly adopting the digital public infrastructure (DPI) approach to deliver public services. An essential component of this is digital identity. Digital identities are often designed to provide a seamless experience for users which ought to be secure, user-friendly, and […]

Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day: 10 August 2024

Published: 30/Jul/2024
Source: UNECA

Strengthening the linkage of civil registration and vital statistics to legal identity systems through digitalization for enhanced inclusion Africa Civil Registration and Vital Statistics Day, which is celebrated annually, marks a pivotal moment for reflection, collaboration and action towards strengthening […]

Corruption and incompetence plague Zimbabwe’s Civil Registry

Published: 29/Jul/2024
Source: The Chronicle (Harare)

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, smoyo@chronicle.co.zw THE majority of people without identity documents are victims of incompetence and corruption at the Civil Registry Department, a Parliamentary portfolio committee on Defence, Home Affairs, Security Service and War Veterans Affairs has heard. The committee, chaired […]