The registration for the National Identification Cards kicks off in June. Rosemary Kisembo, the Executive Director of the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), revealed.
In January, the Ministry of Finance released Shs336.3 billion to kick-start the process of ensuring the renewal of the National IDs project. Of the funds released, Shs192 billion will be used to purchase tablets that will be used in the National Population Census (Shs144.3 billion) and other votes.
The renewals of IDs were scheduled to start in August 2023 up to August 2025, targeting 17.2 million citizens who have never been registered and 20 million Ugandans who wish to renew their national IDs.
The first batch of 15.8 million identity cards that were printed and issued in 2014/2015 will expire between August 2024 and June 2025, thus justifying the need for renewal under Regulation 19(1) of the Registration of Persons Regulations SI 67/2015.
“We are going to carry out the national identification registration exercise in the 10,717 parishes of Uganda beginning in June for ten months. However, we shall first track all persons over the age of 16 because our register is an input into the voter register. Our register is not the voter’s register, but it is an input into the voter’s register,” she said earlier today.
She said NIRA has a task to onboard every Ugandan into the National Identification Register. Section five of our act says we create, manage, and maintain a national identification register.
“Every Ugandan, regardless of age, sex, religion, background, occupation, or clan, is entitled to a National Identification Number. Every Ugandan above 16 is entitled to a national identification card,” she said.
She said, “We keep all citizens, and in Part 2, we keep all aliens; the law calls them aliens, but these are non-citizens who are legally living within the borders of this country. We are supposed to give them an alien identification number.”
