Tanzania selecting firm to issue first national ID card
15 February, 2010
category: Government
After years of controversy, Gotham International Ltd. Of Tanzania, along with the Tanzania Government, is in the process of selecting the business firm that will issue the first ever national identity cards. The final execution of this project will make Tanzania the fourth East African Community country to provide its citizens with national IDs.
The ID project is said to cost $176 million, with the first batch expected to release by the end of the year. The smart cards IDs will feature information used for tax collection, criminal detection, drivers’ licenses, immigration and banking.
While Gotham International has been involved in designing the system of national identification, the firm selected will take on the bulk of the work in distribution and management.
Residents over the age of 18-years-old will be eligible for free IDs, but resident non-nationals will pay a fee. In addition, the Immigration Department has said that foreigners will have to surrender the cards upon leaving their countries.
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