Mozambique: Govenment wants to change identity cards

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Mozambique: Govenment wants to change identity cards

1:05 CAT | 03 May 2017

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The government yesterday approved a proposal of law to improve the current biometric identity card issued by the Ministry of Interior.

Still to be submitted to the Assembly of the Republic for final deliberation, the proposal aims to ensure that ID cards have more security and reliability, adapting them to the current information and communication technologies scenario.

Speaking to the press after the cabinet meeting yesterday, spokesman Mouzinho Saíde said that in addition to improving ID card security, the change would better conform it to standards in the southern region of Africa and worldwide.

The change in the ID cards mainly encompasses elements of identification contained in the current identification document, he said.

“These identity elements indicate the person’s first name, surname, country of birth, sex, individual characteristics, and [the new regulations] also define the type of material from which the identity card must be made, taking technological advances into account,” he said.

Saíde said the changes are to cover all Mozambicans from the age of six. Mozambicans under six years old, as currently, should obtain IDs only where necessary for legal purposes.

Government data indicate that at least six million Mozambicans, out of some 26 million, have acquired biometric IDs since their introduction in 2009.

Source: AIM