By Millicent Senava Mannah
During the stakeholders consultations on the proposed new draft of the National Civil Registration Legislation, Regulation, Identity Card Regulation and National Identification Number, which was held at the Golden Tulips in Freetown on the 8th November, 2021, the Director General of the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, started by thanking all for honouring their invitation to participate in an epoch-making Stakeholder Consultation on the proposed drafts of the National Civil Registration Bill, Policy and Regulations.
He said established by an Act of Parliament, the National Civil Registration Act of 2016 gave the NCRA the mandate to conduct compulsory registration of citizens and non-citizens resident in Sierra Leone, to provide for the issuance of identity cards, to be responsible for the registration of births, adoptions, deaths, marriages, divorces and nullities throughout Sierra Leone and other related matters.
The Director General (DG) said in the execution of its services, however, the NCRA has encountered challenges as a result of lacunae in the Act as well as overlapping mandates with mandates of other statutory authorities.
Specifically, he continued, though some other legislation were repealed by the NCR Act, there is a conflict with other legislations which were not expressly repealed by the NCR Act; there is the absence of Civil Registration Regulation which will clearly state out the requirements, procedures, fees, and fines for the registration of vital events and civil registration generally; and there isn’t a National Identity Card Regulation which will clearly set out the regulations for obtaining, renewing, changing etc. of National Identity Cards among other things.
According to him, those challenges precipitated the need for the review of the current NCR Act and the development of regulations for Civil Registration and Identity Management in Sierra Leone disclosing how the process has come a long way.
“ In 2019, a Comprehensive Country Assessment on CRVS was funded by UNICEF and Government of Sierra Leone with technical assistance from UNECA which revealed the imperative need for legal reforms to take place for an integrated CRVS system to become functional and effective,” he informed disclosing how the NCRA has taken steps to address some of those challenges through the signing of Memoranda of Understanding and other mechanisms but said they have not been exhaustive to address the challenges and gaps they continue to grapple with.
He said it is worth pointing out that “Sierra Leone’s CRVS System is exceptional” as espoused by a Director at UNECA at the launch of the Authority’s five Years National CRVS and ID Management Strategic Plan and the Comprehensive Country Assessment Report.
The Director added that, “Sierra Leone is one of only a few countries in Africa that has an integrated CRVS system with Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management consolidated and housed in one Authority”.
He said along the way, the European Union and the UNDP, key Development Partners in the CRVS and ID Management in Sierra Leona threw their support behind the review of the National Civil Registration Act in a bid to iron out any legal creases that may hinder the effective and efficient functioning of the NCRA.
The DG further revealed that in addition to financial and technical support secured from those two Partners the support has included hiring of an International Consultant to team up with National Legal Experts to ensure the review of the NCR Act goes smoothly and stands the test of time.
He told the audience that given such complexities and need, the need for legal reforms is paramount saying thankfully, NCRA and its Partners have taken this seriously which is why all are gathered and they will be represented in all five Regions of the country over the next few days for similar Consultations during which, Stakeholders with whom the NCRA shares data, interacts with and as well as those who play key roles in the CRVS and ID Management process can adequately and sufficiently make their various contributions to the draft documents.
Naming some of the Agencies, he said they include the Office of the Administrator & Registrar General, Statistics Sierra Leone, National Electoral Commission, Ministries of Gender and Children Affairs; and Social Welfare, Local Government and Rural Development, Health and Sanitation, Local Councils.
The NCRA Director General said their expectation is that the proposed new Legislation and Regulations, incorporating valuable inputs and revisions will be presented to Cabinet and Parliament before end of 2021.
He informed that it is the hope of the NCRA and by extension the hope of the Government and people of Sierra Leone, that stakeholders will join them in the highly participatory sessions as they forge ahead with the legal reviews for which all are gathered.
On his part, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, Lahai Lawrence Leema stated that the establishment of NCRA by the Government of Sierra Leone has greatly improved the registration of vital events and identity Management.
He said the fundamental roles of civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) are that it supports Administrative functions as information compiled using the registration method provides essential data for national or regional for planning purposes.
The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs maintained that the primary purpose of civil registration is to establish legal documents on identity and vital events registration which, according to him, is required by law.
He said the Civil Registration process generates documentation that supports an individual’s right to recognition as a person and acknowledges their formal relationship with the state.
The Minister added that CRVS also supports gender equality as marriage and divorce registration are both effective tools for gender empowerment as they both enable social benefits and protection.
“CRVS also serves as a key data force in measuring progress in the Sustainable Development Goals,” he said and went further to commend the NCRA for how far they have come further calling on all to give the institution the necessary supports it requires in order to become a very outstanding entity in the country.
Adviser on Governance of the European Delegation to Sierra Leone,
Elisa Tesselli informed the audience that the EU Delegation to Sierra Leone welcomes the kick-off of the consultative process on the review of the National Civil Registration Act and development of civil registration regulations.
She said since 2018 the EU has been supporting Sierra Leone in the area of civil registration.
“The EU shares with NCRA the urgency of having the NCR Act 2016 reviewed,” she stated adding how the NCRA and the EU technical assistance jointly worked hard to review the NCR Act and the 3 draft regulations on civil registration, on national identity card and national identification number and on vital statistics.
Elisa noted that the Act establishing the NCRA indeed does not reflect some objectives and functions of the Authority and in some part is even conflicting with other legislations.
She said civil registration is the fundamental source register on population data that registers vital events for all citizens from birth to death, ensuring the civil status data being correct completely up-to-date.
Based on what she said, through civil registration data the public administration will ensure that citizens can enjoy their human rights (provided with legal identity), civic rights (having access to services as education and health) as well as their political rights.
“All this makes it important that sound legal framework is in place,” she stated disclosing how the EU is therefore glad to support NCRA in addressing those important challenges and congratulated NCRA for the work done in reviewing the NCRA Act and its Regulations. She said those pieces of legislations will contribute to ensuring a better governance to the country.
She revealed that they are now at a very important stage: the consultative stage. “The discussion of this draft with stakeholders is ensuring the engagement of all involved parties and will give everyone the opportunity to bring inputs, which are expected to lead to a more comprehensive legislation and increase the potential for compliance to its provisions,” she expressed optimism.
