Sector leaders are charging Rwf1,500 for correction of any errors on national identity (ID) cards, a system that is apparently weighing down on residents.

Senators have since requested that the service should be offered for free since the errors made are not the residents’ making.

The request was made on Thursday, July 21, during the Plenary Session of the Senate that debated on and adopted the report of the Committee on Political Affairs and Governance on the oversight of service delivery in decentralised administrative entities.

While presenting the report, Senator Lambert Dushimimana, Chairperson of the Committee on Political Affairs and Governance, stressed that "Residents are being charged Rwf1,500 for that service each, and they told us this cost is weighing down on them,” he said.

In some cases, you find that a male resident has been registered as female or vice versa without their knowledge. They only know it when they go to seek services, say for construction [permit], he said, adding that some do not understand why they were even photographed but given the wrong gender.

This situation implies that, for some citizens, the national identification system has information that is not accurate.

ID correction process

Meanwhile, some people were apparently not aware that ID correction services are offered at sector level.

Senator Kanziza Epiphanie said that some residents were coming to Kigali to get their IDs corrected, yet ID cards are collected by civil registrars at sector level, who then work with the National Identification Agency (NIDA) to rectify them.

"This would save them money and time,” she said.             

According to NIDA, the basic documents required for ID correction include a copy of passport or Laissez-passer and the birth record made within 15 days of the notary's signature.

NIDA indicated that ID correction services are provided at the Sector where the applicant resides with one of the above documents, and a [payment] receipt of Rwf1,500.