On the weekend, Rwandans thronged various places in their neighbourhoods to register for the new national identity cards. The exercise which was well attended saw many people leave their homes at dawn to go for registration. The new ID will be a highly sophisticated card with enough space to include the holder’s health insurance, social security data, driving license, plus more vital personal information.

There was no better time to introduce such an electronic card than now. Rwanda has just joined the East African Community and certainly her people need to rise to the occasion and by not only standing the competition from their regional counterparts but fully reaping the benefits of integration. With one card carrying various information that used to be on more than five cards, it will become much easier for holders to access services faster than it is currently. It will be more convenient to carry and is expected to make services run faster.

However, it should be incumbent upon all of us to safeguard the value of the new card. It should not be allowed to get into the hands of ill-intentioned people who may use it for ill-motives.During the insurgency that followed the 1994 Genocide, there were cases of infiltrators accessing national identity cards, and using them to conceal their true identities. Notwithstanding the technology used in fabricating the new ID, there should not be laxity in the process to issue them. Nonetheless, flexibility should be observed whenever people without complete identifications seek registration for the new Identity cards.

Clearly, those charged with mobilizing people for such occasions did a good job although it was also noticed that in some areas, registration clerks were greatly overwhelmed by streams of enthusiastic people. Subsequently, there are some people that may have missed out even as the registration went on until late in many areas.

It is therefore the duty of grassroots leaders to immediately communicate to concerned authorities in case anybody who merits having the new card but was not unable to register so that the exercise is extended.Government should find a way of addressing the problem of people who were unable to register in this noble cause because of numerous factors.Ends