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Z’bar issues IDs reminder
2006-03-01 07:19:04
By Issa Yussuf, Zanzibar
Zanzibaris aged 18 and above were on Monday reminded that they were required to carry official identity cards from April 1.
Suleiman Othman Nyanga, Minister of Regional Administration and Security Units, said in state-run media that those who would fail to register for the IDs risked legal action.
’’All adult Zanzibaris must posses the IDs effective April 1, 2006. The government is currently issuing the IDs and there is no excuse for not having them,’’ he said.
The law requiring all Zanzibaris aged 18 and above to have IDs was enacted in May 2005, amid an outcry by the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) which claimed that the IDs scheme was a ploy to rig last year’s elections.
But the Zanzibar government maintained that the issuance of IDs had nothing to do with the elections.
’’The aim of having the IDs is to bolster security and enable Zanzibaris have easy movement within East Africa,’’ Nyanga said.
One must be a Tanzanian of Zanzibari origin aged 18 or above or a Tanzanian hailing from the mainland who has lived in Zanzibar for at least ten consecutive years without committing a criminal offence to be eligible for an ID.
Eligible Zanzibaris who deliberately refuse to register with the relevant authorities so that they can be issued with the IDs will be liable to a one-year jail term or a US$100 fine or both. The population of Zanzibar is 981,754, according to 2002 census.
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