Young Life in Freetown | A New ID Card for the New Year

It feels good to secure a national identity (ID) card because it makes you feel safe. Having one means evading and dodging the police stops and harassment ceases. 

 In central Freetown, the National Civil Registration Authority (NCRA) handles and distributes all national ID cards to civilians over eighteen, nationwide. That's why the staff at the NCRA hardly get to put up their feet. 
Every weekday, hundreds of people can be found sitting in rows or standing in long queues, waiting to get a national ID card. 

To get one, it’s the law that you have documents like your birth certificate, voter's ID card, and any bank issued identification card, together with 12, 500 Leones to buy an application form and to pay for a photograph.  

But civilians who go in for a national ID card face many problems. 

  First of all, there's not enough space for people as the NCRA hall is small with only a few benches. Approximately, the hall can hold a total of a hundred people. Those who are not quick enough to grab a seat, have to stand outside or find somewhere to sit, waiting for a chance to get into the hall and have their registration done. 
  
Secondly, there are no branches in any other parts of the country. So people have to come all the way from provincial areas, sometimes hundreds of miles away, just to secure a national ID card. Most times, people wait around in Freetown for a week or two, because cards aren’t ready immediately. It's a slow process. 
 

Thirdly, there's a major problem with electricity. Most times the power is off. When that happens, all work stops. The waiting hall goes dark and all the computers go down. People are asked to go home and come back the next day. Sometimes, you might be close to taking photographs and then the power cuts off. You’re asked to come back to start the same procedures again another day. People wonder why the NCRA cannot provide a generator. 

Most times, someone may have waited in line and then another person, who was not even in the line, goes in and has his or her registration and snapshot done and leaves. This really annoys law-abiding civilians going in for a national ID card. 
  
People say the hall should be widened so that it could hold as many people as possible.  Some say more branches should be made available, in all the major districts. 

Of course, there should be a stable power supply, so people don't suffer unbearable delay, and to improve accuracy. 

Some of the NCRA employees said measures are being put in place. 

Mrs. Christina, a station analyst, said the issue of people waiting around for weeks to get their ID cards has been looked into. NCRA workers now distribute ID cards in the provinces, through a detailed procedure. 
Mr. Matthew Conteh said the power cuts happen because their street has a problem with a cable connection, but he hopes they get over it soon as the official responsible for that are now on the move. 
  Mr. Conteh also said, queue jumping will soon be over as they are laying down new rules with tighter security. 
  More branches in other major districts of the country are yet to be decided however, but the NCRA promised to give a better service to people this year.


 For Young Life in Freetown,  I'm Inyilla Conteh reporting...