Moussa Bala Fofana responds to Tahirou Sarr concerning the supposed sale of Senegalese civil status documents to foreigners. The Minister of Urban Planning, Territorial Communities and Regional Planning denied this information, recalling that any foreigner who has a child born in Senegal had the right or even the obligation to declare this child in the civil registry.
“The question of declaring births and deaths for foreigners is governed by the law which dates from 1972. Article 43 says that any foreigner who is in Senegal has the right and the obligation to declare a birth. The fact that civil status gives birth certificates to foreigners is normal,” he suggested this Friday during a press conference he hosted in Diourbel.
According to him, a child born to foreign parents in Senegal is entitled to a birth certificate in accordance with the law. He also recalled that civil status is managed by the judiciary and the civil status officer is only one actor. For example, Moussa Bala Fofana pointed out that the reconstruction of the civil status register follows a legal procedure.
Concerning civil status fraud, he assured that the sanctions regime was tough.
