In fact, it is disconcerting that such an important exercise must come as the result of a gentle nudge from the World Bank and IMF following their just-concluded spring meetings.
When the African Union and regional economic communities such as the Economic Community of West African States and the East African Community have to be dragged to Washington for a lecture on mapping out their populations, something is surely amiss.
Of course, some African countries do have some form of national identification. However, these have generally failed to keep pace with the latest technological solutions.
The sophisticated demands of today’s world require that we move toward biometric identification. This is essentially foolproof, since no two persons’ biometrics can be exactly the same.
The fact that different countries have maintained varying registration systems is also cause to worry in this era of regional integration. Preferably, whole regions or even the entire continent should adopt systems that are inter-operable so as to allow faster movement of persons and mutual co-operation in fighting international criminals.
In East Africa, the fact that not all partner states have implemented issuance of new-generation identity cards has been cited as one of the main reasons holding back the free movement of persons, which is essential for a working Common Market.
Within each country, adopting the latest technologies in identification has a number of advantages. Faster registration of persons ensures their quick absorption into the national economy.
Without an identification card, it becomes next to impossible to obtain employment and services at public offices.
Again, a national biometric record that is made available to various agencies removes the necessity for multiple registrations of persons for various purposes such as voting or even payment of taxes.
Moreover, manual processes of registration have often been riddled with corruption. In recent years, this raised the problem whereby the latest Kenyan census had to be nullified in some areas as the purported population increase since the previous census was statistically impossible.
This situation also poses a national security risk, as it becomes easy for terrorists and other criminals to infiltrate their target countries and cities. Using technologically advanced systems, corruption in the registration of persons will become increasingly difficult.
As unwanted persons are granted citizenship, a sad situation prevails where certain deserving groups are denied this right. In East Africa, the groups that have suffered this discrimination have included Kenya’s Somalis and Nubians.
The introduction of advanced technology must seek to ensure that every African belongs to one country or the other; nobody should have to suffer the shame of being ‘unwanted’ any longer.
As African Union Commission Deputy Chairperson Erastus Mwencha noted, people have a right to legal identity and recognition, which are essential prerequisites for decent work, livelihoods and wellbeing.
Globally, an estimated 1.5 billion people are unable to prove their official identity. This includes almost 170 million children under the age of five years.
As with many other negative indicators, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest percentage of its population - at around 37 per cent - without a form of legal identification.
It also has the highest rate of unregistered births, affecting 43 per cent of children aged four years and below.
When the whole population has been accounted for, the statistics from official sources will become more reliable.
This will make it possible to plan ahead with a measure of accuracy. It will no longer be possible to ignore sections of the population, pretending that they do not exist. Increasingly, therefore, advances in information technology and related areas are giving a voice to the voiceless.
The region and the world have seen too many development blueprints that come and go without leaving any tangible impact on poor and marginalized populations.
A proper system of registration of persons can foster inclusion and access to essential services such as health care and education, financial services, and safety net programmes.
It can enable a more efficient administration of public services, transparent decisions and improved governance. Identification also allows for more accurate measurement of development progress in areas such as reduction of maternal and infant mortality and ending epidemics.
East Africa has been leading the rest of the continent on many frontiers of integration. Giving our people identity cards that allow them to get services across the whole length and breadth of the region shouldn’t prove so difficult.
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