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The Revenue and Customs Authority (RCuA) has
collected about 6,600 taxpayers' fingerprints in the
first week of the about 70 million Br worth National
Identification System (NIS) Project, launched early
last week under the first round of this project and
financed by the World Bank, plans to collect
fingerprints from over 1.6 million people in Addis
Abeba.
The project consultant that signed a contract
agreement with RCuA in October 2008, Copycat
Ethiopia I.T. Plc, has deployed 150 of its employees
who, using the mobile registration units, collect
the fingerprints that will be transferred to the
RCuA's central database from every collection centre
across Addis Abeba. The first person to have his
fingerprints stored in the system last Tuesday is
Melaku Fenta, director general of the Authority.
The every other day blackout schedule seems to
affect the project very little according to Copycat
officials.
"Regardless of power interruptions, we are making
good progress in collecting fingerprints from
taxpayers," Prashant Byndoor, general manager of the
IT company, told Fortune.
The Authority plans to finish the data compilation
within 45 to 60 days in the capital city. Some
taxpayers, however, seem reluctant to give their
fingerprints because the system is new and they may
doubt the very purpose, an authoritative source
involved in this project told Fortune. Others
are nervous about previous legal difficulties being
flagged by the Authority. This has caused tax
authorities to doubt whether they can finalize the
first phase within the time line they have prepared,
according to this source .
For instance, Tefera Mengistu, a criminal
investigator with Ethiopian Cargo who has been
working in the inspection and investigation area for
over 10 years, sees potential for the fingerprints
to be utilized in criminal investigations, issuing
passports or visas, and identifying pensioners. He
feared this could lead to potential privacy issues,
as people's information, given for tax purposes,
could be used against them.
On the contrary, Wondemagegn Tola, 26 and owner of
Auto Spare Parts Plc, automobile parts importer
located in the Meskel Flower area, appreciated the
new National Identification Number (NIN) technology.
"This latest development in the tax collection
system is a milestone in avoiding inaccuracies,
blunders and limitations by the RCuA," Wondemagegn
said.
He also suggested that RCuA should intensify
promotion on the issue.
"I don't think people are fully aware of what the
new tax system means. It incorporates both
fingerprinting and photographic documentation for
each registered taxpayer," Wondemagegn said
referring to the data collected from him. "The
Authority is expected to intensively promote the
process to the general public and inform them what
it means for the development of the country."
Students, in all campuses of the Addis Abeba
University, specifically under the government's cost
sharing provision, are obliged to be registered
under the new system as part of the government's
monitoring mechanism to control possible abuses to
the programme. These include failure to pay back
student loans.
Employees of government offices are also under the
obligation.
People registering with the tax Authority fill out a
one page form giving personal details and
imprint from the tips of both index fingers. The
fingerprint system uses Biometric technology which
utilizes a scanner and digital photography to make
identification easier to verify.
"Biometrics is a method unique for its ability to
recognize individuals based on one or more intrinsic
physical or behaviour traits," Mulu Ewunetu, member
of the project management explained to Fortune.
Biometrics technology is often used as a form of
identity management and an access controlling
mechanism. It is known for its special
characteristics of fingerprint, hand and palm
recognition methods, according to him.
Between 2003 and 2004 more than 433,000 tax payers
in Ethiopia used the Taxpayers Identification Number
(TIN) as administered by the Authority.
Developing countries including Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda followed the trend set by the TIN.
"TIN system was notorious for its inability to deal
with those who change a single alphabet [in their
name] thereby altering an individual's identity. For
instance if a hypothetical tax payer, Zeru, wanted
to change his identity he could record his name as
Zerue or Zeroo," Mulu elaborated. "Five years back,
tax payers used to put their addresses on the
individual document, which was not appropriate for
it was ineffective in performing the tax collection
activities," he added.
According to Mulu, in light of all the shortcomings
with TIN, it is time to use modern Information
Technology equipment.
"The Authority is in the process of engaging its
staff and its constituents with more proficient
technology by adding some biometrics features
[fingerprints and photographs] onto the previous TIN
system," Mulu explained to Fortune.
Eventually the new system will be launched in
different parts of the country and similar data will
be collected from tax payers out of Addis Abeba.
Currently, however, fingerprints are being collected
in Kirkos, Lideta, Kolfe, Nifas Silk and Bole
municipal districts. The Authority has not disclosed
the definite time when Dire Dawa Town Administration
and other regional states will implement the
project. |
Almost 5,000 Prints Collected in the First Three Days
