28 Jun 2018

Minister of Nationality, Immigration and Gender Affairs has upped production of Omang cards from 1 500 to 3 000 per day, to prepare for general elections.

Addressing kgotla meetings in Tumasera, Seleka, Ramokgonami, Matlhako, Borotsi and Chadibe recently, Ms Makgato said 198 679 Omang cards had not been renewed, some of which long expired in 1998.

She said the ministry hoped to have cleared the backlog by August 31.

Ms Makgato said in cases where the date of birth was unknown and had been captured as xx/xx, the applicant would be required to make an affidavit confirming the replacement of xx/xx with 01/01.

Further, she said the applicant would be required to bring witnesses 10 years their senior to verify their date of birth, but noted that such created challenges for some.

She said the ministry realised that this requirement was not necessary for renewals and should be scrapped off.

She said elders who registered late for Omang were requested to bring people who had known them for more than 10 years to verify their date of birth and this had proved to be a challenge because finding people who had known them that long was not easy.

Ms Makgato however said the ministry should use a guide for verification of age such as a calendar of events instead of requesting for witnesses.

Ms Makgato, who is also Member of Parliament for Sefhare/ Ramokgonami explained that persons with one parent being a non-citizen but had acquired Botswana passport and or identity card were required to renounce the other citizenship or otherwise confirm that they never had another citizenship.

She said the ministry was in consultation with relevant stakeholders and the public would be informed of the outcome in due course

She informed residents that the National Registration Amendment Act of 2017 introduced the specifications for a photograph for Omang card as being a person’s top head, forehead line, ears, eyes and neckline.

Although this she said was done to have a clear picture, it had created ambiguity and clashes with some communities.

She said while the matter was being addressed, the ministry would allow the affected communities to retain the headgear in accordance with their religion and culture as long as it was in line with International Civil Aviation Organisation standards.

Ms Makgato said the ministry had appointed and deployed an additional 35 officers, 32 of which had started work at district offices to address the backlog and facilitate new Omang applications.

In addition, she said 225 interns had been requested from the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Sport and Culture Development and 69 of them were confirmed.

Ms Makgato said funding had been secured for 150 computers, 105 laptops and 40 printers while 100 cameras and 100 photo printers were available and distributed to district offices.

She said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development was consulted to assist with P2.5 million funding for overtime allowance. ENDS