KIGALI, RWANDA -Rwanda will next week start issuance of electronic driving permits. The coordinator of the national identity card project, Pascal Nyamulinda told East African Business Week.

The registration exercise to acquire the driving permits started last year and it is expected that by the end of this year, old permits will have phased out.  

Countrywide, 70,000 drivers have registered and it is estimated that more than 20,000 will receive new permits next month.  The new permit will cost Rwf50, 000 (US$90) for both car drivers and motorists in all categories and it is an obligation for everyone who wishes to drive on Rwanda’s public roads.   

"The new electronic permit will be special and unique because of its durability, credibility and high technology which makes it complicated to forge," Nyamulinda said.  

It will contain a chip on which all the information about the bearer will be stored. The information on the chip will correspond with that stored in the national data base.

The traffic police will be provided with devices to enable them read the information.