Somalia: Parliament Passes Bill to Establish National Identification System

2 November 2020

The Somali parliament has on Monday approved a bill that aims to establish Somali National Registration and Recognition Agency.

143 members who were present at voted for the bill.

The legislation still needs to be signed by the president before it can come into effect.

Currently, the ministry of interior and respective federal member states issue IDs on small scale but are not based on sufficiently verifiable data.

Former prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire appointed Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein to serve as the first Director-General of the National Identification Authority in July this year.

In 2018, Somalia and Pakistan signed a pact worth $10.5 million for technical assistance on the development of systems to enable the registration of persons and issuance of IDs.

According to the agreement, Pakistan's National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) will develop and supply technology, software, and equipment to enable the Government of Somalia to have a state-of-the-art national data and citizen registration system.

Source: allAfrica.

Link: https://allafrica.com/stories/202011030273.html.