By Foday Moriba Conteh
In a bid to further strengthen the Integrated Civil Registration System in the country, the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) on Friday 28th January, 2022 launched the use of a Securitized Legal Identity Documents which will record occurrences and characteristics of Vital Events related to citizens and other residents as provided for and in accordance with the NCR Act of 2016. The official launch took place at the Aberdeen Women’s Centre at Aberdeen in Freetown.
The Securitized Legal Identity Documents that were launched will record occurrences like Birth, Death, Marriage, Divorce and Adoption Certificates principally moving away from paper based to electronic recording of these events.
Speaking during the launch, the Director General of the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi, noted that the launch of the Securitized Legal Identity Documents is a huge step in furtherance of the execution of the legal mandate of the National Civil Registration Authority, adding that their mandate involves the registration of Vital Events and the issuance of Legal Identity Credentials/documents as well as the establishment and maintenance of a Civil Register on these Vital Events occurring in the lives of Citizens and non-Citizens resident in the country.
He revealed that the United Nations defines Legal identity as the basic characteristics of an individual’s identity conferred through registration and the issuance of a certificate by an authorized civil registration authority following the occurrence of an event and that Legal Identity and Identity Credentials are Human Rights enshrined in Article 6 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights as well as several other International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law instruments that guarantee the undeniable recognition of everyone before the law.
The Director General pointed out that the NCRA and by extension the Government of Sierra Leone, in a bid to further strengthen the Integrated Civil Registration System now introduces the use of Securitized Legal Identity Documents which will record occurrences and characteristics of Vital Events related to its citizens and other residents as provided for and in accordance with the NCRA Act of 2016.
Underscoring the advantages of using Securitized Legal Identity Documents he said that the system itself, the Certificates issued and the data collected from citizens and non-citizens in Sierra Leone are all highly secured with latest technologies and standards in line with International best practices.
“We are confident that this will ensure sanity, credibility and integrity of our Legal Identity Ecosystem with the collective efforts of combating identity fraud and other menace associated with identity in our country,” he expressed optimism.
Mohamed Massaquoi concluded by acknowledging and appreciating UNICEF, the UN General Assembly for the support provided to NCRA including but not limited to the development and production of the Securitized Legal Identity Documents.
On her part, the Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF, Nassal Millicent Kebbie, said that one of the mandates of UNICEF is protecting children’s rights and that UNICEF has been partnering with NCRA to ensure that birth registration is integrated into the civil registration and vital statistics system in the country.
She added that they have been in this partnership with NCRA for a long time as birth registration is key because it is the first step to an individual been identified as a human being.
Nassal Millicent Kebbie reiterated UNICEF’s continued support in order to ensure that all children given birth to within the confines of country are registered and issued birth certificates, furthering that through their partnership they have developed a birth registration procedure manual to help actors to know how to register these children and to also give these actors the capacity to be in the right place in order to provide the services needed across the country.
Giving the keynote address, on behalf of the Minister of Internal Affairs, the Permanent Secretary of the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mohamed S. Kargbo said that the launch of the Securitized Legal Identity Documents will certainly find its way into the annals of the history of civil registration in Sierra Leone, adding that the Ministry of Internal Affairs been the supervising Ministry for the NCRA, and that they always feel obliged and proud to lend their support to the Authority in order to deliver on its mandate.
“I am here to launch the securitized legal identity documents. This is a novelty! This is the first time as a nation to navigate through such a path. It is clearly a laudable effort,” he revealed.
He said Civil Registration and Identity Management are important areas in the global security domain as secured identity management gains more significance due to perverted economic gains from identity theft and fraud.
Mohamed S. Kargbo pointed out that in Sierra Leone, due to the prominence of the right to National Identity as enshrined in the 1991 Constitution and as a result of the political will to support Civil Registration and Identity Management, the strides being made by the National Civil Registration Authority, an Authority under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been laudable so far.
The event was climaxed by the official launching of the Securitized Legal Identity Documents by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mohamed S. Kargbo followed by the presentation of the first securitized birth certificate to the first child who was registered at the event by the Director General of the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA), Mohamed Mubashir Massaquoi.
