Uganda targets 33M citizens for mass ID registration, renewal from May 27

A mass national ID registration and renewal exercise which the Ugandan government announced three years ago is now set to commence by the close of this month.

Since the exercise was announced in August 2022 after a Cabinet approval, the government set many deadlines and failed, with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) citing several constraints which were technical and financial.

Now, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the ID authority say all is set for a nationwide rollout of the exercise from May 27, at the end of a pilot which is schedule to run from May 2 to 26.

The government says it is targeting 33 million people for the exercise, with 15.8 million ID card renewals many of them expiring by the end of June, as well as 17.2 million first time registrations.

In a recent press conference, a clip of which was published by local TV channel NTV Uganda, the State Minister of Internal Affairs Gen David Muhoozi said the activity will begin in all the 146 districts of the country after the pilot.

Muhoozi also assured that as part of preparations for the mass registration and renewal exercise, the company contracted for the purpose, Tahaluf, already fully supplied all the agreed 5,665 biometric registration kits by January and the kits were later distributed countrywide beginning February.

In addition to the enrollment kits, he said two high-speed card production machines were also procured, with a combined printing capacity of up to 100,000 laser-engraved cards per day, while a data centre and other critical communication equipment have also been delivered and configured to meet the requirements of the ID system when it actually gets off to a start.

“A new national security information system has also been developed, built on the modular open-source identification platform (MOSIP),” Muhoozi said, adding that the first phase of the exercise includes five modules which are new registration, renewal, change or correction of particulars, card replacement, and first-time card issuance for children who have reached the age of 16.

“The new system provides for online registration of biographical data. Furthermore, it will capture the iris as an additional biometric feature, either through this method or without using face and fingerprints. Biometrics will only be collected at designated registration points by a NIRA registration officer,” the minister disclosed.

Officials say the pre-registration portal will go live early on May 27.

Article Topics

biometric enrollment  |  biometrics  |  MOSIP (Modular Open Source Identity Platform)  |  National Identification and Registration Authority of Uganda (NIRA)  |  Tahaluf  |  Uganda