President Hage Geingob with Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi will on Friday launch the use of National Identity (ID) Cards as travel documents between Namibia and Botswana.

The launch is set to take place at the Trans-Kalahari/Mamuno Border Post.

According to the presidency in a media statement on Thursday, the launch will be preceded by the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement on the Facilitation of Cross-Border Travel Using IDs. The agreement is the culmination of an initiative by the two Heads of State as part of regional integration.

‘Namibia and Botswana will join other countries in the world that permit the use of National Identity Cards as travel documents,’ it said.

‘The use of Identity Cards as a travel document to a neighbouring country is the first of its kind in Namibia and is a signal of the strong bonds of friendship between Namibia and Botswana. As member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), this shared initiative between Namibia and Botswana is in line with the SADC Protocol to promote and facilitate the free movement of people, goods and services,’ it said.

It added that the initiative is in line with the SADC Protocol and will therefore promote and facilitate free and easy movement of people between the two countries, a step closer to regional integration.

Meanwhile, Geingob in 2021 launched the new Namibian Identity Cards which allow Namibians to travel to neighbouring countries without the use of a passport.

The president during the Inaugural Session of the Botswana-Namibia Bi-National Commission in 2022 also made a call to senior officials to fast-track the implementation of the usage of IDs as travel documents between the two countries without delay.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency