He told Parliament in Dodoma yesterday that the process to get the contractor for the apparently highly-fancied $176m (approx. 200bn/-) job aimed at introducing compulsory ID cards to all Tanzanian citizens has already started.
He was responding to a question by Mhonga Ruhwanya (Special Seats - CHADEMA), who had wanted to know exactly when the national IDs are to be issued to Tanzanians, what stage the project has reached, and what criteria is being used to pick the contractor for the project.
According to deputy minister Kagasheki, a total of 54 local and foreign companies have applied for the tender to produce the IDs, and the government is currently in the process of short-listing the applicants.
The tender winner is expected to be known by the end of next month, he told the House.
He asserted that the government will be very careful in picking the eventual tender winner for the multi-billion shilling project, which is known to have attracted the interest of various local politicians-cum-businessmen, all apparently eager to pounce on the deal.
It has been reclining on the backburner of state affairs for years, amidst reports of constant meddling and undue influence allegedly being exerted by certain well-connected personalities ever since the consultancy stage.
But in an interview with THISDAY last March, Home Affairs Minister Lawrence Masha dismissed the reports of certain big shots being after the lucrative contract.
He said the delays in the project implementation were occasioned by the government’s intention to ensure that the process is carried out thoroughly and diligently, given its sensitive nature.
’’It is not true that there are personal interests in this project...The government only wants to ensure the project is implemented with no hitches,’’ said Masha.
Concern has also been raised in some government quarters that the technology suggested for the making of the ID cards is probably too high-tech for a poor country like Tanzania.
It is understood that consultants hired by the government proposed the use of a smartcard technology, although some of the country’s development partners reportedly preferred a simpler and less expensive barcode technology.
Critics of the project say the lack of a nationwide e-government infrastructure and national database will also make it difficult to implement the IDs project.
The national ID cards project has been on the drawing board for almost four decades now, but constantly delayed by problems like lack of funds, legal wrangling and more recently reported meddling by some big shots in government.
Tenders for designing, printing and supplying of national IDs were first advertised in 1995, when around 27 companies initially applied for the contract.
The tenders were eventually cancelled amidst legal wrangling by at least one of the bidders and financial constraints on the part of the government.
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Quelle/Source: This Day, 27.08.2008
