East Africa: EAC Member States to Migrate to E-passports By 2015

By Staff Writer

The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control in the internal affairs ministry has set a 2015 target for the roll-out of electronic passports using information gathered from the national identity cards. 

The new documents will replace the existing machine-readable ones by 2015. Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, the internal affairs minister, said the passports will meet standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the East African Community (EAC) and bolster internal security.

He was addressing a two-day workshop attended by Internal Security Organization operatives and representatives from the ministries of internal affairs, foreign affairs and ICT at Ridar Hotel, Seeta. 

The e-passport is the same as a regular passport with the addition of a small contact-less integrated circuit (computer chip) embedded in the back cover. 

The chip securely stores the same data visually displayed on the photograph page of the passport, and additionally includes a digital photograph which precludes chances of forgeries, like people swapping passports. It can also include medical, traffic, financial and other information. 

“The world has never been in a greater panic than it is right now due to threats from terrorism, and epidemics like Ebola. If you are not e-compliant, you are a step back. We do not want to be left behind,” Aronda said.

Burundi and South Sudan have already upgraded their passports to e-passports. Several countries in Europe, America,
Asia and Latin America have long adopted e-passports.

Kenya, Monday 13 released new car e-registration plates, a chip containing relevant data of the car, its location, dealership and owner, which will be used to monitor the person driving the car and at what time, speed and   mileage of the vehicle as a way of reducing road carnage, insecurity and theft.

Multi-national tech-firms have pitched shop in Africa to tap in the first growing market, as countries race to adopt digital mode of doing things from government offices to primary schools in remote areas by laying fibre optic cables to increase access to internet and the digital world.