40 000 uncollected IDs gather dust

The home affairs and immigration ministry is working on more effective ways to distribute identity documents (IDs), as only 52 896 out of 93 019 IDs that have been printed were collected over a period of more than three years, with 40 123 IDs gathering dust.The statistics relate to the period 1 April 2021 to 16 July this year.At a Cabinet committee briefing last week, deputy minister of home affairs Lucia Witbooi said one of the strategies they are deploying to address the matter is for constituency councillors to urge members of the public to collect their IDs at their respective regional offices.Community outreachMeanwhile, Witbooi said the ministry is conducting mass registration outreach programmes in all 121 constituencies, which started on 5 February.As of 16 July, 94 317 people were served through this programme.Services during the outreach initiatives include birth registrations, birth certificate duplicates, new ID applications, ID duplicates and ID collection, as well as the registration and recording of stateless and undocumented persons.“This programme ends on 31 July and people are encouraged to make use of this opportunity," she said.Details of undocumented and stateless persons are also taken during the community outreaches to ensure that undocumented and stateless persons who have been residing in Namibia are recorded. “Their details will be verified, and their applications will be handled accordingly.”Requirements remain the same Witbooi said the details of those who are undocumented and stateless will be captured in the functional register, which will assist in identifying and tracing them once the relevant bills to address the issue of stateless and undocumented persons are passed.“I must state that the requirements for the acquisition of national documents have not changed," she explained.Witbooi said national documents are only issued to those who meet the requirements in line with the law. “Normal registration services will continue as usual at our civil registration offices countrywide.”

40 000 uncollected IDs gather dust

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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40 000 uncollected IDs gather dust

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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