Sim card saga

About 6 months ago the Tanzanian government decided that everyone’s sim card for their mobile phone had to be registered with their thumbprint and their National Identification Authority (NIDA) card number.  The cutoff date was extended several times but Jan 20th was eventually THE DAY when unregistered sims would begin to be cancelled.  The reason for all this was to make it harder for organised crime to flourish.

All Australian Volunteers are required to have a functioning mobile phone, charged up, switched on and with credit at all times.

Our in-country manager sought advice from one of the main telcos and assured us we didn’t have to do anything as our sim cards were registered with our passport numbers and we’d had photographs taken.  So we did nothing.  Then as Jan 20th approached the telcos started sending warning messages to everyone (including non-residents) that their phones would be cut off if they didn’t re-register.

Rumour and misinformation have been abundant - from telcos, other non-residents, residents, media and government agencies.  Some 20 million citizens have been unable to get NIDA cards in time and are being progressively disconnected.

The situation for non-citizens seems to be:

• If you are going to be in the country less than 6 months you can re-register with passport and thumbprint
• If you are going to be (or have been) in the country more than six months you must re-register with NIDA card and thumbprint

NIDA cards are notoriously hard to get, even for citizens.  People we know have been waiting 1, 2 and even 3 years.  It is apparently a legal requirement for all non-citizens to get a NIDA card if they have been in the country for more than 6 months (as we have).  

So far neither Jenny nor I have had our phones disconnected but some of our colleagues have.  Some have re-registered their sims successfully with passports and thumbprints.  Two did so on Monday.  Jenny and I have tried three times now to re-register.  The first time the computer systems were down.  The second time we were told NIDA was one option but for a bribe we could register with the VodaCom staffer’s NIDA card number (seriously illegal)!  The third time was Tuesday morning after the success of our two colleagues on Monday.  We both gave thumbprints and but they didn’t match with the ones we gave immigration on arrival in the country in April.  So we couldn’t re-register.  

We were told that attempts were being made to identify foreigner-registered sims and to exempt them from disconnection.  So it is entirely possible that we will never be disconnected.  If we are then we will go in to the shop and try again…

Today I have had more phone calls and messages advising me to come in and re-register!

An issue for us certainly but a huge one for nearly half the population in a country that is so heavily dependant on mobile phones.  What is the economic cost of all this time wasting and being without phones?