{"id":3406,"date":"2026-08-31T16:11:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=3406"},"modified":"2026-08-31T16:11:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T16:11:25","slug":"rwandas-digital-id-rollout-reaches-7-2-million-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/31\/rwandas-digital-id-rollout-reaches-7-2-million-people\/politics\/national\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda\u2019s digital ID rollout reaches 7.2 million people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"596\" height=\"335\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-6-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3407\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-6-4.jpg 596w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-6-4-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 596px) 100vw, 596px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 8.3 million people have also verified their personal information since the programme began in 2025, NIDA Director General Josephine Mukesha said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The exercise is now being completed in the Northern and Western provinces, as well as Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru districts in the Southern Province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"678\" height=\"452\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-5-6.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-5-6.jpg 678w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/images-5-6-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 678px) 100vw, 678px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe have now registered more than 8 million people,\u201d Mukesha said, adding that more than 8.3 million had verified their information while 7.2 million had completed biometric registration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Under the new system, electronic identity cards will be issued from birth, replacing the previous system under which national identity cards were issued from the age of 16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Children below five years will have their facial photographs captured, while those aged five and above will undergo full biometric registration, including facial images, fingerprints and iris scans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NIDA plans to equip sector offices with photography equipment before moving more services to cell offices, which are closer to residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agency says the system will also strengthen civil registration and help the government improve planning by providing reliable information on births, marriages and deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rwanda began registering newborns at health facilities in 2020. Children born outside health facilities are registered through local administrative offices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mukesha said the system had helped raise the rate of child registration to about 96%, from between 70% and 80% previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NIDA has also encountered cases where parents had several children but only some were registered, requiring the unregistered children to be added to the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Rwandans living abroad will also be able to access the electronic ID programme through the Irembo platform, while biometric registration will be conducted through Rwandan embassies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">NIDA said people who miss the current registration exercise will still be able to obtain the service through sector offices because the programme will continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The agency is responsible for issuing national identity cards and providing civil registration services.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 8.3 million people have also verified their personal information since the programme began in 2025, NIDA Director General Josephine Mukesha said. The exercise [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3407,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,53,34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current_affairs","category-featured-stories","category-national","category-top_stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3409,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3406\/revisions\/3409"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}