AS the deadline for the biometric registration of SIM cards nears, the National Identification Authority (NIDA) and Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) are running an outreach campaign aimed at moving the services closer to the public.
The one-week campaign conducted at Mnazi Mmoja grounds in Dar es Salaam will enable residents of Dar es Salaam to get National Identification Numbers (NIN) that will help them register their SIM cards.
NIDA Head of Communications Unit, Mr Thomas William told ‘Daily News’ yesterday that the campaign was also conducted in various regions in the country especially in areas where they could not access the services easily due to distances and other challenges.
“We have decided to do this outreach here at Mnazi Mmoja because many of our district offices are overcrowded so this is one way to reduce congestion as well make sure people get NIN to register their SIM cards before the deadline,” he explained.
According to him, it will take one week for one to get their NIN. “Currently, while the exercise is ongoing, it is not necessary to have an ID card as the allotment number will suffice,” he noted. However, Mr William cautioned the public not to trust unscrupulous individuals who have gone to the extent of fabricating online applications that do not belong to NIDA.
On her part, RITA Assistant Registrar, Ms Amina Juma Kapufi, told ‘africa-press’ at Mnazi Mmoja grounds that the registration was for children as well as adults who have never had birth certificates for several reasons.
“We have camped here for the services which are expected to be conducted from Monday to Saturday, and excepting Sundays and holidays,” she noted.
Ms Kapufi told members of the public who wished to register to have various documents including mother-child clinic card, baptism certificate, voter’s identification card, primary school leaving certificate, Form Four certificate, NIN and introduction letters from the local government offices.
She said the camp was only for Dar es Salaam residents and would stretch to December 31, 2019, after which the services would be offered in RITA district offices countrywide.
On December 13, 2019, Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) reported that only 42 per cent SIM cards in operation had been registered.
They reported that there were 21.7 million SIM cards that were yet to be registered out of over 47 million SIM.
Out of the seven telecom providers, none is yet to reach 50 percent registration, therefore, standing a risk of missing transactions with Vodacom Tanzania having the highest number.
The unregistered SIM cards are as follows: Airtel Tanzania (7,185,528), Tigo (6,618, 007), Smile (13,333), TTCL (825,406), Viattel (3,012,237), Vodacom (9,154,114) and Zantel (573,891). The exercise commenced in May and will climax on 31 December 2019.
