The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has just taken an important step towards the issuance of national identity cards, an initiative that has been eagerly awaited by the population for more than three decades.
Indeed, the Prime Minister of the DRC, Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde, presided over an official signing ceremony of the memorandum of understanding relating to the transfer of data and other important materials by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) to the National Office for Population Identification (ONIP) and the National Institute of Statistics (INS) on Thursday June 8, 2023 at the Government Building (Place Royale).
The memorandum of understanding initialed by the president of the CENI, Denis Kadima, and Stanislas Kenza (ONIP) symbolizes the transfer of enrollment devices, cartographic data and collection material by the Electoral Center to the two other institutions called upon to continue , within the framework of pooling, identification and general population census operations.
This transfer of data paves the way for the forthcoming issuance of national identity cards to Congolese. A major step forward for the Congolese population, because the last time the DRC carried out a scientific census of the population dates back to 1984.
“This is an important step awaited by our population, by the government, and above all by the President of the Republic, whose leadership I salute, he who promised to provide each citizen with an identity card and above all with provide the country with reliable demographic statistics,” said Sama Lukonde.
Denis Kadima, President of the CENI, for his part, welcomed the determination of the Prime Minister who was involved in the outcome of the pooling despite the difficulties encountered on the ground.
The symbolic transfer of equipment should mark a new moment of collaboration between the institutions, which will soon be followed by the transfer of staff. This is a breakthrough that opens a new door towards the issuance of national identity cards to Congolese, and constitutes an important step for the DRC.
This memorandum of understanding marks a new era for the Congolese, who will very soon be able to benefit from an official identity document, a real challenge in a country where the absence of identity cards facilitates electoral fraud and the proliferation of falsified travel documents.
With this new directive, the DRC is giving itself the means to fight against the many challenges that undermine its political and social system.
Several blog articles today explore current events in the country, such as the war against the ADF in North Kivu, the inauguration of a commission of inquiry in the DRC to fight against military abuses in conflict zones or another march in support of the exemption of legal fees for victims of sexual violence