Tanzania removes expiration date on national IDs

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania's national identity cards are set to last indefinitely after the government announced the removal of the expiration date.

This was said by the minister for home affairs, Hamad Masauni, on Tuesday, February 21, at a press conference in Dar es Salaam.

He said the aim was to do away with the unnecessary inconvenience that would arise from the renewal of the document.

He, however, did not state what would happen to the current national IDs that bear expiration dates.

National IDs were first issued in February 2013, after then-President Jakaya Kikwete launched the initiative, stating that they must be used every 10 years before being renewed. The first batch of IDs is set to expire this year, with the exercise yet to cover all eligible citizens across the country.

Citizens would have had to pay Sh20,000 each when renewing their national IDs.