New National ID Card will be difficult to falsify

The DGNS, Martin MbargaNguele

- Martin MbargaNguélé, Delegate General for National Security

He made this revelation and more in an interview with the press last week.

What are the missions of the committee in charge of the supervision of operations for the putting in place of a new security identification system in Cameroon?

The committee has specific, highly strategic and technical attributions. It will define the strategic choices and orientations, validate technical choices, and proceed to the periodic evaluation of the work. It will also decide corrective measures and the exploitation of the new security identification computer system. To attain the objectives thus defined, the committee makes use of a technical unit. The putting in place of this new security identification system is in keeping with the government policy of modernizing and securing our civil status which has become very porous and susceptible to all sorts of manipulation. Now, the committee has to do the work. I think Cameroonians are impatient to obtain the new identity card which, I insist, will be difficult to falsify.

What becomes of the national identity cards currently in use?

When the time is right we will launch the establishment process of the new cards. The objective is for every Cameroonian to have the new card. The currently used cards will be valid until when we start establishing the new ones. We will not cancel the currently used cards. There is nothing to bother about until the new national identity cards are put into circulation. Withdrawal will be progressive because the system cannot all of a sudden establish cards for everybody. There are presently about fifteen million Cameroonians who are of the age to obtain a national identity card. The procedure for the acquisition of cards cannot be interrupted. The new system envisages the attribution of a unique and definitive number for each user as soon as they are identified for the first time. This identification will equally be unique. We are thus beginning the definitive process of securing our nationality.

Will the modalities of acquisition of the new NICs be the same like for the old ones? Will there be any supplementary costs?

For users who will henceforth want to establish the new document, we will decide the modalities for such acquisition. Thanks to the work that the committee will do, we will know whether the new cards will be more or less costly than the currently used one. In the current state of affairs, we cannot say anything. However, as from today, Tuesday 2 August the committee will begin work in order to define the conditions for the acquisition of the new card.