NINcompoop

In Tanzania if you register for a SIM card using a passport, sooner or later you have to re-register with a National Identification Number (NIN), or you’re liable to have your number deactivated. For months I’ve been receiving messages from the phone network urging me to sort this out.

I obtained a NIN after a good deal of wrangling at the allocated office in the ward where I’m living. I went to the Vodacom shop to proudly announce my NIN and stem the incessant text messages. ‘NIN not recognised’. The customer service guy was helpful and said that because I am with Vodacom through my work (we all get a monthly allowance so we are ‘corporate clients’) I am deemed to be a ‘high value customer’ so less at risk of imminent cut-off. At the time of writing, my SIM card lives to operate another day, and I hope for ongoing clemency by Vodacom.

It appears that I’m trapped in a cage but this is just the security fencing that covers the open side of our office building, which was converted from a hotel and looks like it once had a welcoming half-courtyard type of vibe.