Cameroon urges citizens to pick up national ID, voter’s cards

Authorities in Cameroon say thousands of national identity cards as well as voter’s cards have not been picked up by their owners, and there’s the crucial need to do so as the country moves steadily closer to highly-anticipated presidential elections in October next year.

These calls for collection of national ID and voter’s cards were made recently through announcements and press interviews by authorities in charge of these services.

In one of the announcements issued on August 3, a representative of the Commissioner of Police of the 3^rd District Police Station in the South Western city of Kumba, Emmanuel Kamdem, said there were over 4,000 original ID cards abandoned at the police station. The police officer mentioned that some of the ID cards were produced as far back as 2017, and cover the period up to 2020.

“The list has been published at the identification post of the said police unit. The concerned should pass by and check for their cards. Relatives and friends are advised to inform their loved ones who might have been displaced,” the announcement reads.

Over the years, authorities have complained that many Cameroonians do not bother to withdraw their national ID cards when they apply for them. This has led to a situation where thousands of ID cards remain idle in cupboards at police stations. On the other hands, citizens have also complained about the hurdles involved in the ID card obtention process.

In the English-speaking part of the country, this situation is further compounded by forced displacements as people are made to flee their original settlements as a result of the ongoing armed conflict in that part of the central African nation.

In May, the country signed a 15-year contract with Augentic for the setting of a new generation national ID card system. The contractor says issuance of the cards is scheduled to begin by the end of this year, and issuance process is expected to be much faster than is currently the case.

While huge numbers of national ID cards remain uncollected in police stations, so are thousands of voter’s cards, according to the Director General of Elections at Cameroon’s Elections management agency (ELECAM), Dr Erik Essousse.

In an interview with state-owned daily newspaper Cameroon Tribune on August 9, Essousse disclosed that despite the campaign for registered potential voters to collect their cards, there are still bundles of cards that remain to be withdrawn by their owners.

“Many voter’s cards are still to be collected from our council voter registration branches. So, I am calling on the registered voters concerned to do well to collect their cards,” said Essousse.

He also spoke about ELECAM’s plans of acquiring new biometric registration gear, saying they are far advanced on that. Essousse also mentioned that a new machine for printing voter’s cards is already available and is undergoing final tests.

In Cameroon, voter’s cards are not issued instantly upon registration. The distribution of cards happens many weeks after the biometric registration process has been completed.

Article Topics

Africa  |  Cameroon  |  identity document  |  identity management  |  national ID  |  voter identification