2016 BIOMETRIC IDENTITY CARDS: TOWARDS AN EXTENSION OF VALIDITY

Faced with the imminent expiration of the first ECOWAS biometric national identity cards issued in 2016, the Ministry of the Interior and Public Security has initiated an administrative and legislative process to extend their validity. This emergency measure is coupled with the continuation of the standard renewal system to ensure continuity in citizen identification.

Invited this Thursday to the program "Salam Sénégal" on RSI radio, the Director of File Automation (DAF), Chief Police Commissioner Ibrahima Dieng, revealed the measures taken by the State to deal with the expiry of identity documents issued ten years ago.

Legislative reform is underway in the National Assembly

To provide a legal framework for this extension, the Executive turned to Parliament. Committee work has already taken place in the National Assembly to amend the decree governing these travel and identity documents.

The institutional process is proceeding as planned. The amending text must first be voted on by the deputies, then promulgated by the President of the Republic, before an implementing decree is issued to formalize the measure.

"It is this future decree that will allow us to determine precisely the categories of cards concerned as well as the exact period of extension," Commissioner Dieng stressed.

To date, neither the duration of the extension nor the exact scope of the beneficiaries has been definitively determined.

Early renewal and practical details

Operationally, the Ministry of the Interior reassures the public: the standard renewal procedure remains fully accessible. Any Senegalese citizen whose card is about to expire can now begin the necessary steps to obtain a new one, without having to wait for the extension law to be enacted.

An official statement from the DAF is expected in the coming days to detail the practical arrangements, the documents to be provided and the conditions for acquiring the new biometric cards.