Source : Ippmedia
Posted by: Webmaster on 04-Feb-2010

The government has secured a local consultant who will offer technical advice on implementation of the long-awaited National Identity Cards project.

Ministry of Home Affairs Permanent Secretary, Mbarak Abdulwakil named the local consultant as Gotham International Limited.

“Though I am not in-charge of the day-to-day activities of the project, what I understand is that the government through the National Identification Agency (NIDA) has already secured a consultant who would offer technical advice on implementation of the project,” said Abdulwakil.

He said the project is now overseen by a steering committee, comprising members drawn from the Ministries of Home Affairs, Regional Administration and Local Governments (RALG) and Justice and Constitution Affairs, specifically the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA).

Abdulwakil said the focus now was not issuance of the national ID cards but to lay down procedures which would ease implementation and identification processes for the project to be sustainable.

“The interest now is which technology should be used and how it would suit our environment. We also consider the ability of those who would implement the project and expect to receive all these details from the consultant…the issuance of the IDs would come last,” added the PS.

Efforts to reach officials of the said consulting firm proved futile as there was no response when this reporter called their numbers.

However, details on their website show that the company deals with a wide range and comprehensive set of multiple development consultancies to African Governments.

The company also helps African governments secure communication, defence and security, as well as national identity cards.

Bank of Tanzania (BoT) said last year that delays to introduce National Identity cards was a serious stumbling block towards modernization of the Bank’s payment system.

Speaking shortly after the introduction of a new online payment system by a local company, BoT Manager for the National Payment System, Bernard Dadi said the delay was holding back launching of the bank’s modernized payment system.

Officials argue that introduction of the IDs would reduce costs, particularly during the voter registration exercise, among other things.

The idea of introducing national IDs dates back to 1968 during a meeting which by then was known as ‘interstate’ intelligence gathering.

The meeting whose ultimate goal was to have inter-state security arrangement among neighbouring East African countries, had its members drawn from Uganda, Zambia, Kenya and the host—Tanzania. At the time, Kenya and Zambia already had their national IDs.

But the idea faced hurdles, including cost considerations relating specifically to infrastructure, human resources, and training of staff to run the project.

Other hurdles were how to incorporate other state organs in implementing the project in networking and connectivity, establishment of registration and data centres, as well as public awareness.

The other crucial questions were which technology to use, who would execute the project, at what cost and the need to modernize and build capacities of some of the government institutions which would be the implementers.

There was need for example to study how the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) could help the government implement the project through transforming its duties in registering people and how Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) could use it in issuing business and motor vehicle licenses.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN