Kampala, Uganda | By Michael Wandati | The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) is gearing up for a large-scale enrollment and national ID renewal exercise in Uganda, set to commence in October 2024.
The process will be supported by 5,680 biometric kits, including advanced iris scanners, which are expected to arrive soon. However, DNA samples will not be collected during this exercise.
During a press briefing in Kampala, Gen. David Muhoozi, Minister of State for Internal Affairs, and Rosemary Kisembo, NIRA’s Executive Director, unveiled the biometric kits to the media, emphasizing that the new system will be operational in October.
This timeline aligns with the November 30, 2024, deadline set by the Electoral Commission (EC) for receiving the necessary data for updating the national voters’ register ahead of the 2026 general elections.
NIRA’s objective is ambitious: to register the details of 17.2 million unregistered Ugandans and renew the national IDs of 15.8 million citizens. This will be facilitated through a new system featuring five key modules: ID Card Renewal, New Registration, Card Replacement, Change of Particulars, and First ID Issuance.
To execute this mass enrollment, the government plans to hire 13,000 personnel who will operate across 10,717 parishes nationwide.
As 15.8 million Ugandan National ID cards approach their expiration dates between August 2024 and December 2025, the government has announced a one-year extension for all affected cards.
This decision aims to ensure that citizens remain documented and have continued access to essential services while the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) prepares for the upcoming mass enrollment and ID renewal exercise.
“The fisible date for the execise to commence when the new system is in place, is, October 15th 2024. During the period leading up to October 15th, persons aged 16 and above, or those who will be 18 by January 2026, are encourage to register to get a National Identification Numbers (NIN) using the current registration system,” Gen. Muhoozi said, adding that registration continues, and they are not waiting for the new system.
“As we speak registration continues… not that we are waiting for a start date. Those who can should continue registration, and we think we have about 3 million to handle.”
“This is therefore to emphasis that no one will be disenfranchised due to new system acquisition related issues.”
The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) is set to roll out a new registration system featuring advanced iris recognition technology, which boasts a high degree of accuracy. NIRA officials highlighted that, unlike other biometric methods such as fingerprint or facial recognition, the likelihood of two irises being identical is exceedingly low.
This significantly reduces the chances of false acceptance or rejection, making iris recognition a highly trusted identification method across various applications.
The new registration kits come with several enhancements, including a portable solar kit, an additional battery, and an iris scanner, differentiating them from the older systems. NIRA’s integration with 90 institutions, including border posts, telecommunication companies, and banks, ensures that these entities can continue to access and validate information on renewed ID cards in real-time.
Once the new system is fully operational, NIRA will launch an online pre-registration process. This will be followed by biometric data capture at the parish level, starting 2-3 weeks after the online phase. According to Gen. David Muhoozi, the phased approach will allow for the efficient deployment of the registration kits, which will be delivered in batches.
“Because we need time in between to ensure that business continues and people aren’t disrupted, that anxiety you alluded to and we have done so by extension of one year plus or minus so that we ensure that people don’t get upset by what they do,” Gen. Muhoozi told the committee.
As Uganda faces the impending expiration of millions of National ID cards, the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has clarified the need for renewal due to the gradual deterioration of ID features caused by wear and tear, including changes in facial characteristics. To maintain accurate and up-to-date data, NIRA emphasizes that ID cards must be renewed before they become unreadable by the system.
Gen. David Muhoozi, Minister of State for Internal Affairs, announced that the extension of ID validity will be enacted through a Statutory Instrument Amendment No.2, Regulations 2024, which was officially published in the gazette on August 12, 2024.
“This one-year extension for IDs set to expire within this period should alleviate public anxiety over what to do until the new IDs are issued,” Muhoozi assured.
NIRA Executive Director, Rosemary Kisembo, had earlier this month elaborated on the new registration equipment that is currently awaited to facilitate the upcoming mass enrollment and renewal exercise.
Also Read: NIRA explains delay in mass registration for new digital ID cards
Kisembo told journalists, “there are eight key items that we need to arrive in the country: the data center, registration kits, card printing equipment, blank cards, and the completion of system customization. These are the items on the critical path.”
She also revealed that the National ID registration has never stopped. Despite the arrangements by NIRA to organize Mass enrollment exercise, an individual can still go to any of the offices and be enrolled.
“During this period one can visit any NIRA office to register for a NINs (citizens from 0-15 years), National ID cards (citizens 16+years), replace their cards, apply for change of particulars on their cards even before the commencement of the exercise. Procedures can be accessed from the NIRA website, socials, toll free No. 0800211700 or by visiting any NIRA office,” NIRA said in a statement.
