ID4Africa Ambassadors

EMERITUS

The ID4Africa Ambassadors Charter limits Ambassador service to 4-year terms. Ambassadors who successfully complete their 4-year terms become an Emeritus Ambassador and are recognized for their contributions to identity matters in their respective countries and the Movement.

Kenya
(2017-2022)

Bio

Mr. Reuben Kimotho is the Secretary-Director of National Registration at the National Registration Bureau (NRB) in Kenya. He holds a Masters in Public Administration and a Masters in Law. He is also an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. Mr. Kimotho has wide experience in public administration, and citizens’ registration (including Registration of births and deaths).

Mauritius
(2019-2022)

Bio

William AYELOU is the Registrar of the Civil Status Division (CSD). He is responsible for the registration of all civil events and other matters relating to the civil status of persons in the Republic of Mauritius. He also heads the Mauritius National Identity Card Unit which delivers identity cards to citizens, once they attained the age of 18. As a regular speaker in international conferences pertaining to CRVS, he was a panelist in the 4th Conference of the African Ministers responsible for Civil Registration in 2017. William holds a Bachelor of Law degree (UK) and a postgraduate degree in Environmental Law and Land Use (France). Before joining the CSD, he was the administrative head of the Environment and Land Use Appeal Tribunal.

Burkina Faso
(2019-2022)

Bio

Michaël Guibougna Lawakilea FOLANE is the Director General for the National Agency of Security for Information Systems (ANSSI) where he coordinates operations for national cyber security, the national cybersecurity strategy and the General Security Repository. Michaël began his professional career in the private sector, where he worked at Briya Technologies as Head of Service Networks and Computer Maintenance. He integrates the public sector where he successively held several positions including Branch Chief of the Communications Infrastructure department at ANPTIC (National Agency for the Promotion of ICT) and Director General at ANPTIC, where he and his team worked towards strategizing operations for the development of eGovernance, the promotion of ICT in other sectors and implementing cross-sector projects for digital transformation.

São Tomé and Príncipe
(2018-2022)

Bio

Alberto PEREIRA joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of São Tomé and Príncipe in 1998. He is currently Minister Counselor for the Diplomatic Career of São Tomé and Príncipe. In 2015, he was elected by the National Parliament of São Tomé and Príncipe to the post of President of the National Electoral Commission, a position he held until 2018. Currently, he is the Coordinator of the Support Office to the National Authorizing Officer of the European Development Fund for Sao Tome and Principe (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities). Alberto holds a law degree from Jean Monet University in Saint Etienne, France, as well as a postgraduate diploma in Diplomacy from the Rio Branco Diplomatic Institute in Brasília, Brazil.

Ghana

(2016-2021)

Bio

Emmanuel Kpakpo BROWN is a highly proactive and competent biometrics and identity expert with many years of experience in the ID ecosystem and promoting responsible adoption of digital identification systems both in Ghana and international circles for the achievement of SDG 16.9. He is currently a Senior Officer, Card Production, with the National Identification Authority (NIA), Ghana. He is certified in Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) and Identity Cards Production Systems (ICPS). His technical and creative acumen have culminated in the successful production of over 3,000,000 national biometric identity cards for Ghanaian citizens and also plays a pivotal role in the Ghana eID implementation project that officially commenced in 2017. Emmanuel has previously worked at the Ghana Statistical Service from 2005-2010 as an Assistant Statistician/Head of Printing & Publications and also the National Communication Consultant for the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) CountrySTAT Ghana project in 2010.

Guinea

(2018-2021)

Bio

Mory CAMARA is currently Managing Director and a member of the Permanent Technical Team at the ANGEIE in Guinea. ANGEIE manages the application of information and communication technologies (ICT) for the provision of government services, information exchange, communication transactions, integration of various systems and autonomous services between governments (G2C, G2B, G2G, G2E), as well as back-office processes and interactions across the entire government framework. ANGEIE serves to organize government services in a practical, efficient and transparent manner. Mory has extensive experience as a senior private sector executive with proven expertise in designing, architecting, deploying and managing complex and cost-effective network solutions worldwide. He has successfully developed process improvement initiatives, and implemented complex solutions in a simple and compelling way.

Rwanda

(2017-2021)

Bio

Jacques KAYISIRE serves as Director of ICT infrastructure at the National ID Agency of Rwanda (NIDA). He possesses nearly 14 years of professional experience in the field of ICT and has been with NIDA for over 9 years. He started as a member of the ID Project Task Force, approved by Cabinet in 2008, as the Charge of ICT. Jacques graduated in 2002 from PSG College of Technology and holds a BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. In 2009 he completed his Masters in IT Communication Management from Kigali Institute of Technology and later received a Post Graduate degree in Project Management from Maastricht School of Management in The Netherlands. He has been involved in the planning and execution of Rwanda’s ID Project, and has served a valuable role in other government projects.

Cameroon

(2018-2021)

Bio

Jean Paul NTSENGUE is a lawyer by training. Since 1992, he has been legal counsel to industrial companies in the private sector, legal consultant and researcher before joining the public sector. In addition to these activities, Jean Paul was trained in the fields of political science, economics, finance and communication. He is the author of a reference study entitled “The President of the Republic: Myths and realities of the executive power”, available online at www.artelittera.com under the heading “Political Science”. He worked at the National Elections Observatory (ONEL) of Cameroon between 2002 and 2003 as a political advisor, and was later recruited as a legal expert with the Governmental Technical Commission for two years to negotiate the FLEGT voluntary partnership agreement between Cameroon and the European Union (APV-FLEGT-CMR-UE). At the end of this mission, he was contacted by Elections Cameroon (ELECAM), an electoral institution in which he currently exercises the functions of Technical Advisor. The project for the biometrization of the electoral file was entrusted to him in 2012, where he presented its technical, financial, legal and political evaluation. He also selected the operators bidders of the restricted international tender. Mr. NTSENGUE teaches at the National School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM) on the course, “Electoral process”, and is an expert in democracy, governance and election of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF).

South Africa

(2018-2021)

Bio

Thomas Sigama is the Chief Director of Identity Processing at the Department of Home Affairs in South Africa. He joined the Department in 2006 as a Director responsible for the National Population Register. In his current position, he is largely responsible for the secure processing of all Identity Documents in South Africa which includes both the Green barcoded Identity Documents as well as the newly launched Smart ID Cards. He plays a leading role in the roll-out of the Smart ID Card throughout South Africa. His duties also include the management and maintenance of the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS), verification of demographics and biometrics, maintenance of National Population records (storage, retrieval and archive) as well as fingerprints of citizens and non-citizenry including Permanent Residence holders. Thomas holds a double Bachelors (second with honors), a Certificate in Public Management Development and an Advanced Diploma in e-Technology Computing.

Namibia

(2017-2020)

Bio

Since 2015, Oscar MUHAPI is the Control Administrative Officer heading the ID Production division under the Directorate of National Population Identification and Production within the Department of Civil Registration in the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration, Republic of Namibia. Prior to his appointment he headed the sub-division of Information Capturing and Production in the same Directorate. He has been with the Ministry for the past 14 years and has extensive knowledge in Civil Registration matters. His main responsibilities cover the overall management and coordination of activities for the production of Identity Documents, supporting the development and implementation of the Department`s long-term strategic goals and annual plans, maintaining and managing the ID segment of the National Population Register, and ensuring effective management of identification cases.

Nigeria

(2016-2019)

Bio

Godswill Chinemerem UKAUWA is the Assistant Comptroller of Immigration at the Nigeria Immigration Service. Having been trained in law enforcement and criminal justice, and in serving Nigeria’s Public Service for over 20 years, he is no doubt exposed to identity related issues, and understands the importance of electronic identity as a necessity for the management of national economic and security challenges. Godswill is an advocate of electronic Identity for all within the shortest possible time for socio-economic development and security enhancement. Academically he is also qualified in the field of Economics, Business Administration and Management which have become advantageous in diagnosing the effects of crime and criminality to the economy and the society.

Ethiopia

(2016-2019)

Bio

Daniel LISHANEW has maintained a decisive role in the implementation of the Civil Registration and Vital Statistics System since 2014. As a business administration and information systems professional, as well as biometric expert, he has dedicated his growing expertise to government service and the Federal Police for over 21 years. Prior to his current role in the Agency, Daniel worked as Director of the Data Collection, Archive and Supply Directorate. He also worked with the Ethiopian Customs and Revenue Authority as Coordinator and Fingerprint Expert to help develop the taxpayer’s identification number system and biometric ID card production. At the Federal Police Forensic and Crime Investigation unit, he has held several roles in the main department such as Deputy Inspector of Police, Latent Fingerprint Expert, Team leader, Officer and Clerk responsible for investigating forensic evidence from crime scenes which involve fingerprint detection and identification. Among his major achievements is the implementation of an AFIS system in the Ethiopian Customs and Revenue Authority & Federal Police Forensic Department.

Côte d’Ivoire

(2018-2019)*

Bio

Elisabeth GORE is the former Assistant Director of Studies and Documentation at the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). She began her career in 1998 at the National Institute of Statistics (INS – Cote d’Ivoire) as Communications Officer for the operations of the General Population Census of 1998, and Revision of the Electoral List 2000. She was responsible for coordinating public awareness activities. In 2008, she joined the Directorate of Studies and Civic Education (DEEC) of the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC). From 2010 to 2016, she participated in the electoral processes as a trainer of local commissioners in various regions (Moyen-Comoé, Gontougo, Bounkani and Sud Comoé) for presidential elections, regional councilors elections and municipal councilors. Elisabeth is a graduate of the Institute of Communication Sciences and Techniques (ISTC – Abidjan).

Kenya

Bio

Janet W. MUCHERU has extensive experience as a Civil Servant in the Government of Kenya. Prior to joining the Civil Registration Services (CRS), she worked as a Senior Administrator in various departments in the Government of Kenya. She is currently the Registrar General of the CRS. She was instrumental in the implementation of the biometric system in Kenya’s airports and border posts after leading a delegation to benchmark in Malaysia, Singapore and USA. She is the Chairperson of the CRS Technical Committee, a member of Board of Management for various Government Institutions.

*Did not complete 4-year term, but awarded Emeritus status due to exceptional contribution to the Movement during tenure.