In yet another sign the stalled project is still choking silently with differences over its implementation, two Zanzibar government officials recently distanced the Isles from the 37-year-old project.
They also criticised the proposed smartcard technology for the production of the IDs as unsuitable and expensive.
But yesterday, the Director of Union Affairs (Vice President's Office) Mary Anita Ngowi, told The Citizen the ID cards would be distributed to all Tanzanians on the mainland and Isles.
"Apart from serving national interests, the IDs will be the basis for all Tanzanians to be accorded their entitlements to anything in the country, "she said.
And on Sunday, consultants hired by the Government on the project, Gotham international Limited, said at a press conference in Dar es Salaam that the National Identification Development Authority (NIDA) was appointed to implement the project for the Union government.
The Isles' minister of State (President's Office), Mr Suleiman Othman Nyanga, and Registration director Mohammed Juma Ame criticised the project as expensive.
The Government's consultants proposed the use of the smartcard technology arguing that it is a secure tamper-proof, multi-purpose identity card.
Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morroco, UAE and Egypt have programmes based on the technology.However, the World Bank, through its development specialist proposed the use of the barcode technology.
Mr Michael Wong, the World Bank's Private Sector Development Specialist said last year the "lack of nationwide e-Government infrastructure and a national database would make it difficult to implement?" the project.
According to Mr Wong, the ID system the Government is proposing is "too complex and too technologically sophisticated for Tanzania and that it has never been successfully implemented or deployed anywhere in Africa or Asia."
But others who support the technology also argue that the per capita cost estimates for the National ID programme are in line with and in many cases much lower than in other countries.
And the ministry of Home Affairs has already confirmed that it would use the smartcard technology to produce secure tamper-proof multi-purpose identity cards.
The on and off project first discussed in parliament in 1972 but stalled over decades due to budgeting constraints and priorities is now estimated to cost Sh200 billion.
The European Union is said have promised to finance a six-month pilot project before the exercise that could take up five years starts.Critics of the multi-billion project have also in the past raised questions on why the ID project was not put under the Registration, Insolvency and Trusteeship Agency (RITA) or government printer.
They claim that the two public bodies could implement the project at a lower cost than a private contractor yet to be confirmed after the tendering process.But the Union Affairs director said yesterday doing so would be against the Constitution since the ID project was a Union matter.
The Government recently released the names of the six final bidders for the multi-billion project. The list includes Unisys of South Africa, Giesecke & Devrient FZE of Dubai, Iris Corporation Berhad (Malaysia) and Madras Security Printers (India).
Other firms are Marubeni Corporation, working with Zetes and NEC from Japan, and Tata Consultancy Services working with Ontrack Innovations Ltd from India.
Fifty-four companies initially indicated their intention to carry out the project. The project has gone through the watch of about 20 ministers at the ministry of Home Affairs, but all ended up with no tangible decisions on its implementation.
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Orton Kiishweko and Kim Kimani
Quelle/Source: The Citizen Daily, 24.02.2009
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