13 May 2008
editorial
Nairobi — The National Registration Bureau is celebrating the fact that it is now able to process 40,000 national identity cards per day. That is a laudable achievement given that for youth turning 18 and requiring identity cards, the long wait and constant delays have always been costly.
An ID is mandatory requirement for every adult, and without it, one cannot register as a voter, open a bank account, secure a job and do so many of the ordinary everyday things where proof of identity is required.
What is puzzling, however, is that the department is investing in speeding up issuance of cards it admits are based on expensive and obsolete technology, while at the same time working on a completely separate project for the so-called third generation IDs.
One would assume then that good money is being used to make more efficient a system that will soon be discarded.
Perhaps it might be wiser to concentrate more on getting the new ID card system in place as fast as possible.
It is important, however, that all the processes around the new system be handled with utmost professionalism.
In many circles, the proposed third-generation IDs are already being mentioned in the same breath as the infamous projects-the new passport and immigration control systems, police communications and other security procurement-associated with a small group of wheeler dealers, more designed to fleece the public coffers than to provide value for money.
This is not to say that there is anything untoward, but in the light of such concerns it is imperative that the department do everything possible to ensure the project is transparent and above board.
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