By Mabinty M. Kamara
Residents in Freetown have expressed fear over meeting the new deadline of May 22nd set for the ongoing National Civil Registration Authority’s (NCRA) verification and registration exercise due to the sluggish nature of the process at the centers.
The exercise which started on the 6th of May 2021 according to officials of NCRA is aimed at collecting accurate information of residents in Sierra Leone. The exercise in Freetown was to have ended on the 15th of May 2021 but has been extended for another seven days. Various dates have been announced for the registration of people in the districts of the country.
There has over the years been a growing concern from the public over delay in the issuance of the new national Identity Card that was said to have more advanced features. Ever since, people have been issued with a three-month renewable paper form of identification. However, the NCRA Director General Mohamed Massaquoi in an earlier interview with Politico asked the people to be patient as they were working hard to produce a high quality multi-purpose ID card that bears specification in line with the UN legal identity system.
In 2018, the voter’s registration process was merged with the civil registration process making the process rigorous and detailed. It is until lately that the authority has called for the verification of the information recorded by staff for the authority and the National Electoral Commission back then.
Margret Dumbuya, a resident of the Grafton community expressed frustration over the slow pace at which the verification process at her center at the Grafton Police field was going. She told Politico that she started queuing since 6: am in the morning and was there till it was past 5: pm but still could not succeed to do the necessary verifications she was there for.
“The centers are not much. I am coming all the way from CRS to this place and other people are also coming from other far distances all to this one place in Grafton. I came yesterday with my children to verify but could not succeed and we are here again today,” she said.
Despite the announcement by the NCRA boss of an extension of the exercise by one week so as to get more people complete the process, Elias Lahai at Saint John in central Freetown says it will not entirely solve the problem. According to him, creating more centers or having more than one verification and registration officers per station will be much better, given the population in Freetown.
“Even if they extend it by two weeks, I don’t think everybody will be able to complete the process because just take a look at the queue, today is Saturday and you said 22nd of this month is the deadline do you think it is realistic. I’m not talking about the provinces but here in Freetown, they need to expand the process not extend it,” he said.
The Deputy Director of the Information, Education and Communication at NCRA, Amadu Juana Kamanda told Politico that the extension of the process by one week is in response to the growing demand of the people to have their information verified. He acknowledged the financial implications that come with it as they are going to pay people more and extra logistics and equipment will be required.
He said they actually thought of the fact that given the time frame it may not be enough to complete the process but that they were limited by resources.
“It because of the way we did our planning. We cannot say we didn’t envisage that, but it all hinged on the resources available. Based on what was available is what we worked by. The way we planned our activities should have accommodated it but a lot of other activities have been implemented. But because of the magnanimity of the government in terms of supporting the process, we are able to extend it,” he said.
A functioning civil registration system ensures the registration of all vital data of citizens and non- citizen residents including births, marriages and deaths and issues relevant certificates as proof of such registration. Civil registration promotes efficient government planning, effective use of resources and enhances accurate monitoring of progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
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