On the eve of the 2025 elections, the government is accelerating the process of digitalization of public services. From now on, every citizen of voting age will have a biometric identity card. However, the task promises to be difficult with the country’s low electrification rate and the time remaining before D-Day..
For the purposes of transparency in elections, the government has undertaken a vast project to digitize civil status services. This was as part of the preparations for the 2010 elections. Most municipalities were equipped to produce biometric identity cards, but the project fizzled out.
One year before the 2025 elections and in the context of the new administrative division, the Minister of the Interior, Community Development and Public Safety has just relaunched the project to manufacture biometric identity cards. During this year, the entire Burundian population eligible to hold the national identity card will have this new biometric card. This is to avoid the lamentations of certain politicians after the elections, but also to comply with other countries in the region.
A non-falsifiable card
The ministry in charge of public security estimates that the biometric identity card will drastically reduce cases of crime. “ The criminals will be traced without difficulty, because some criminals hid their true origins by presenting false identity cards. The biometric card will also facilitate the movement of people who do not have passports through neighboring countries that are signatories to the regional conventions of libre circulation », We read on the website of the said ministry.
We dare to hope that the biometric identity card will correct certain anomalies and obscure practices of the administration. It is not uncommon to find identity cards in the hands of foreigners. A person could have more than one identity document. What is tricky is that two people with different identification ended up with the same identity document number. Some have had difficulty obtaining SIM cards from local telecom operators. A law to protect biometric identity cards is reportedly being developed. The project will be presented to the Council of Ministers for analysis and adoption in the coming months.
Convincing results
The government and its partners have already launched the pilot phase of this mega project in 11 pilot municipalities. These are Ruyigi, Bukinanyana, Kayanza, Bubanza, Gitega, Ngozi, Kirundo, Muyinga, Cankuzo, Rutana and Makamba.
During a lively public broadcast from Karusi on March 29, 2024, Pierre Nkurikiye, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, announced that activities to produce a biometric identity card are underway. He also added that after the ongoing population census until August this year, the data collected could be used to issue this biometric identity card to the people and the latter would be used in the 2025 elections.
It is important to point out that the national biometric identity card makes it possible to centralize two types of data: complete information on the holder and biometric data which does not change (fingerprints, eye color, biological data) and its economic identity, in particular the NIF, bank accounts, etc.
There is no shortage of challenges
The training of civil status agents in the handling of IT tools and mastering the techniques for manufacturing this biometric card remains a major concern for the government. However, the authorities want to reassure that efforts will be made to provide Burundians with a biometric identity card before the 2025 elections. A difficult bet to win given the time remaining before the electoral deadlines. The Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) projects voter registration towards the end of this year.
The countdown has started, but in the meantime the country lives to the rhythm of untimely power cuts. The best would be to create several registration points in each constituency but, with the slow internet connection and the relatively low electrification rate, the task promises to be difficult and complex.
#Burundi #Eco #biometric #identity #card
