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Immigration Department says IDs to be issued in 2009
2007-10-06 08:58:02
By Austin Beyadi
Immigration Department deputy director Cunibert Sambalyegula has said that national identity cards will be issued in 2009.
Addressing a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, he said the project would be implemented using the most reliable and modern technology.
`The project will cost the government USD 152million. Our goal is to control illegal immigrants by issuing identities to all Tanzanian citizens,` Sambalyegula said.
He said the Ministry of Home Affairs, in collaboration with the President`s Office (Public Service Management), would form an agency which would be responsible for the exercise.
`We have identified a building where we will locate the offices. Its construction will cost 2.5bn/-,` said Sambalyegula.
He said the project would be implemented under an independent National ID Management Agency which would be under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Meanwhile, the Immigration Department has said that 2,370 illegal immigrants were netted in the country during the first eight months of this year.
He said 380 of the immigrants were fined, 151 were sentenced while 133 were set free.
There were 112 other immigrants with pending cases while the remaining 219 were deported, according to the Immigration chief.
At least 503 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea were in various prisons in the country awaiting deportation to their respective countries.
As the Immigration Department spent a lot of money hosting and deporting illegal immigrants to their countries of origin, it was currently improving its patrols on routes illegally used to enter the country.
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