Tanzanians to pay token fee to acquire national IDs
Dailynews Reporter, 31st July 2009 @ 01:01, Total Comments: 0, Hits: 100
TANZANIAN nationals will have to pay a token amount to get a National Identity Card when the government starts issuing them in future. The Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, told Parliament yesterday that the exact fee to be paid will be determined later before the project starts issuing the IDs.
Ambassador Kagasheki clarified on the issue while responding to Nkasi lawmaker, Mr Ponsiano Nyami (CCM) and Vunjo MP (CCM), Mr Alloyce Kimaro who wanted to know why there have been delays in issuing the IDs and if national security would not be compromised that there will be two types of IDs to be issued.
Mr Kimaro also asked about payment for the cards. "We will issue national IDs to all citizens of the country and IDs for foreign nationals resident in the country," Kagasheki said. He emphasized that the exercise will start from the grass-root level where people originate from to ensure that non citizens don't find a loophole to get national IDs.
Ambassador Kagasheki dismissed Mr Hamad Rashid Mohammed's (Wawi-CUF) claims that Zanzibar has national IDs and defended the 200bn/- bill which the country will pay to get the hi-tech IDs with special security marks.
"Zanzibar has no national identity cards, it simply has residence cards. The process of acquiring our national identity cards is at advanced stage and on course," Ambassador Kagasheki assured lawmakers who wondered why the country has struggled to get national IDs since the 1960s. The MPs advised the government to have three types of national IDs that will include those to be given to naturalized persons to differentiate them from natives of the country.