By Saio Marrah
The first day of introduction of the new and improved securitized Identity Card for citizens and non-nationals has been beset by slow processing of payments attributed to poor networking being encountered by Africell telecoms and Sierra Leone Commercial Bank, the two institutions undertaking the cash payment by registrants.
The National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) announced the commencement of providing the IDs, after a long period of non-issuance.
At the NCRA Headquarters in Freetown, on Tuesday 31st January 2023, Politico was informed by the authority’s Deputy Director of Information, Education, and Communication, Amadu Juana Kamanda that they will get in contact with the payment system partners for them to address the problem.
He said it is compulsory to have the national ID, and that the authority is also providing ECOWAS ID cards for Sierra Leoneans, ECOWAS ID cards for other ECOWAS citizens, and IDs for non- ECOWAS or foreign nationals that are residing in Sierra Leone.
He said an identity verification platform has also been launched to be used by financial institutions and other Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) that will be providing public services to the people within the country.
Kamanda also noted that they are in advanced discussions with foreign missions to have access to the authority’s data to ensure due diligence was being done in terms of guaranteeing of security of people’s data.
He said the ID cards are now being issued across the regional headquarters in the country and that within the Western Area, they are providing the service at Lumley, Waterloo, and Kennedy Street and at their NCRA Freetown headquarters.
He also disclosed that it takes 72 hours to have an ID processed and given to its owner and that business people are mostly going for the ECOWAS ID card.
He confirmed that as of day one, they did not encounter any serious challenges although he admitted that “people are still reluctant to understand the information around it (ID card), but it is a gradual process.”
Le140 (one hundred and forty Leones is the cost for a national ID card, Le 240 (two hundred and forty Leones) for ECOWAS ID designed for Sierra Leoneans, Le400 for ECOWAS ID reserved for ECOWAS citizens, and Le2,000 (two thousand Leones) for other foreign nationals.
The national ID can be renewed every five years, whilst the others are renewable every twelve months.
One of the registrants on the first day, who applied for both the national ID and that of ECOWAS, Isata Foday said she spent about 15 to 20 minutes in the queue before she was called up to go through the different processes.
According to her, she was told to collect the ID cards after two working days. President Julius Maada Bio on Monday 30th January 2023 launched the new ID scheme.
Copyright © 2023 Politico Online (03/02/23)
