Prime
Expiring national IDs given more shelf life
The State minister for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi (left) and the ministry’s Permanent Secretary Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu appear before the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs at Parliament on August 15, 2024. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
What you need to know:
- The Ministry of Internal Affairs is drawing up a contingency plan to contain any issues that may arise as a result of the expiry of the IDs.
The renewal of the first batch of National Identity Cards slated to expire starting later this month has been extended for another year, the government has said.
According to the National Identification Registration Authority (Nira) website, “the first batch of National Identity Cards totaling to 15.8 million were printed and issued out during the National Security and Information Systems Project in the year 2014/2015 and shall expire between August 2024 and June 2025.”
The State minister for Internal Affairs, Gen David Muhoozi, told the parliamentary Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs yesterday that the cards will start expiring on August 26.
Gen Muhoozi said the ministry is drawing up a contingency plan to contain any issues that may arise as a result of the expiry of the IDs.
“…the extension is by one year so that we ensure that people don’t get upset in what they do,” Gen Muhoozi told MPs, adding, “a statutory instrument was published on Monday [August 12] in the gazette. So this should sort out the anxiety that was starting in the public regarding what to do between now and when they get new IDs.”
While updating the committee on the status of the mass enrolment exercise of registering 17.2 million unregistered Ugandans, Gen Muhoozi allayed fears that the extension would affect the updating of the National Voters Register.
“Despite the unexpected delays, the government has taken measures to ensure that all persons eligible for voting in 2026 will have their details captured within the timelines outlined in the electoral commission roadmap,” he said.
Legislators appeared to be shocked by the development, with many saying they were hearing this for the first time.
The Shadow Minister for Environment, Ms Christine Kaaya Nakimwero, said: “We are getting concerned about the extension of expired issues in Uganda. LCI and women councils are expired and we are moving on. And now IDs are also getting expired and they will continue to be in service.”
Lawmakers including Mr Godfrey Wakooli Matembu (Butiru County) and Mr Peter Okeyoh (Bukooli Island) expressed concern that extending the renewal exercise would increase pressure on NIRA, which has previously appeared to be overwhelmed by Ugandans seeking to acquire national IDs.
“When we were starting this exercise, we were overwhelmed by the big numbers in 2014 and at that time, there were many technical challenges. Now they are telling us they are going to enroll about 17.2 million, things may get worse [for Nira],” Mr Wakooli said.
He suggested that the government consider adopting a continuous renewal process, similar to the one used for renewing driving permits.
“Moving forward, let us do what happens in other countries where expired or lost IDs are done by simply walking to the office of the local registration bureau. And that is cheaper,” the Butiru County MP said.
He added: “Now that we are going to have this renewal capturing new features, I want NIRA to confirm to this committee that moving forward we shall go and do benchmarking on how other countries are doing renewals.”
No cause for alarm
To allay all the fears and questions raised by legislators regarding the same matter, Gen Muhoozi said the ministry had drafted a contingency plan that would inform and address any challenges that may come up as the renewal exercise is delayed.
“Now that we have lost time, we shall share a contingency plan. We have contingencies [and] my technical people will have to share that one, to ensure that people don’t get disenfranchised. We are mindful of the time constraints,” Gen Muhoozi said.
He did not share the details of the contingency plan but said the government would relay communication updates to all regional countries that Ugandans travel to using the National IDs.
The same communique detailing the delay in the renewal of IDs would also be relayed to all other foreign missions and embassies to roll out any possibilities of miscommunication.
