The Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, has urged NIRA to take ID services to parishes, making it easier for citizens who can’t afford transport to district centers to get their IDs.
NIRA started a nationwide enrollment and renewal process for registering Ugandans in May this year, hoping to produce the IDs within three to four months. However, the process has so far seen snail-paced movement.
According to NIRA, only 4 million IDs have been printed, and the number of Ugandans who’ve collected their IDs is still low. NIRA’s Executive Director, Rosemary Kisembo, says more people haven’t received messages, but they’re prioritizing sending them out in the coming days.
“We started sending messages, but we haven’t done it much,” Kisembo said. “They’re a bit slow, but we’re planning to do it in the next few days. The messages are fewer than the IDs we’ve printed. But at least 4 to 5 million cards have been picked out of the 14 million cards.”
Kisembo urged Ugandans who’ve received alert messages and those who haven’t received to visit their district NIRA offices to collect their IDs. She’s also stated that NIRA plans to print 1 million cards weekly.
Some notable Ugandans who have collected their IDs include Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa, who picked his up at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala this afternoon.
After getting his ID, Tayebwa praised NIRA officials and Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo for working hard to get IDs to Ugandans, calling it a “game changer” in every Ugandan’s life. Currently, printed IDs are being picked up at district centers, which Tayebwa says isn’t accessible to many village residents.
He suggests NIRA lowers the centers to parish level to help more Ugandans get their IDs. “For instance, it costs around 50,000 Ugandan shillings to travel from my subcounty to the district center,” TAyebwa said. “That’s a lot of money for many people. I agree, NIRA should bring IDs closer to people, like to parish level.”
Tayebwa also says that due to NIRA’s crucial role in keeping Ugandans’ data, the government will need to allocate more funds to NIRA, to help expand its headquarters, purchase advanced machines, and ensure the country’s data center is secure, reducing reliance on telecom companies.
“I understand that we use the data center of one of the telecoms here,” he went on. “We need to move expeditiously, work with NITA Uganda and NIRA to have our own Data Center as government, because this is very critical data, which we are keeping with a private company. So after the election expenditures, we should be tackling this.”
Tayebwa has also urged Ugandans, especially parents, to register their children for IDs. He’s said that it’s not just for elections, but soon IDs will be required for things like hospital treatment and getting married.
NIRA reports that 13 million children in Uganda are still unregistered for a National Identification Number (NIN). According to NIRA’s Executive Director this is significant number, considering the importance of NIN in accessing services.
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