Government Launches Mass Enrolment for National IDs

The government has officially launched the mass enrolment exercise for National Identity Cards, according to Gen. David Muhoozi, the state minister for Internal Affairs.
In August 2022, Cabinet approved the Mass Enrolment and Renewal exercise aimed at renewing approximately 15.8 million ID cards set to expire in June 2025. The initiative also targets the registration of 17.2 million Ugandans.
“I am thrilled to announce that the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) is ready to begin the pilot phase of the Mass Enrolment and Renewal exercise,” the minister said. “The pilot phase will run from May 2 to May 26, 2025, to allow the Electoral Commission to complete the National Display exercise—an essential process for our democracy and sovereignty.”
The pilot phase began with the renewal of IDs for NIRA’s Board of Directors and top management of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. During this period, NIRA will register, renew, and issue IDs at selected sites in collaboration with key stakeholders.
Starting May 27, 2025, NIRA will expand operations to the parish level across all 146 administrative districts nationwide.
The minister emphasized that the registration process is free of charge for citizens seeking to acquire or renew national IDs. However, citizens requesting to change or correct their personal information will be required to pay a fee of UGX 200,000, while replacement of lost IDs will cost UGX 50,000.
In July 2024, NIRA signed a contract with Tahaluf Al Emarat Technical Solutions to procure 5,665 biometric registration kits. These were fully delivered by January 2025 and distributed across the country starting February 2025.
The procurement also included card production machines capable of printing up to 100,000 laser-engraved cards per day, data center equipment (including five racks, 80 servers, firewalls, and other communication tools), and a new National Security Information System based on the Modular Open-Source Identification Platform (MOSIP).
The upgraded system enables online pre-registration of biographical data and includes iris scanning as an additional biometric feature. Biometrics will only be captured at designated registration centers by authorized NIRA officers. The pre-registration link will be available on the NIRA website starting May 27, 2025.