Mogadishu, Somalia – On Tuesday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia stated that security agencies have notified him the militant group Al-Shabaab has directed its members to enroll for the nation’s new national identification card.
Addressing a gathering on the ID system launch, President Mohamud expressed support for the move, explaining that biometric enrollment would enable officials to spot anyone linked to terrorism.
“Let them acquire it – their fingerprints and faces will be captured,” he remarked with a chuckle.
“They are Somali citizens who have turned to terrorism,” he added.
President Mohamud indicated the national ID scheme would enhance security, stimulate economic growth, and combat terrorism, money laundering, and various crimes. It would further block criminals from journeying overseas and endangering other nations, he noted.
The President cautioned that furnishing services to people lacking the national ID would amount to supporting terrorism or crime, with those involved facing responsibility. He encouraged Somalis to enroll and seize what he described as a vital national prospect.
He also addressed graft in the enrollment procedure, condemning those peddling entry passes to ID facilities or intentionally causing extended lines.
“Individuals seeking gain by blocking people who abandon their work to register will not secure honest livelihoods,” he declared.
Somalia’s national ID project forms part of a larger governmental push to update public services and bolster security nationwide.
