Time up for national ID issuance in Kampala

By Darious Magara      
                                              
Issuing of National Identity (ID) cards at the parish level in Kampala, which started on December 4, 2014 has ended, Government said.

The deputy manager of the National ID Project, Betty Nasenja, said the exercise will resume on June 22, at the headquarters of the five Kampala divisions.

The five divisions are; Makindye, Nakawa, Central, Rubaga and Kawempe. Nasenja told journalists at the project offices in Kololo that this is intended to reduce costs. She was noncommittal on how long the exercise at the division level will take.

A total of 16.4 million people registered for the IDs last year but 35,000 noncitizens were rejected.

So far, 309,084 people who registered in Kampala have not picked their IDs. Only 837,625 cards (74%) cards have been given out in Kampala in six months, compared to 1,073,775 cards dispensed in Jinja region in one month.

Nasenja explained that a national ID, which confirms one’s citizenship, is supreme to a passport since a passport only serves as a travel document.

“It will soon be mandatory to make several transactions using a national ID. The law will take course on those citizens that shunned the exercise; some who will not have clear explanations will either be imprisoned or fined to be registered,” she warned.

She explained that they are to reprint the cards that had errors. According to Nasenja, children, Ugandans in the diaspora and those in prisons will be registered in 2016 after the general elections.

Nsenja said the Registration of the Persons Act, which will be enforced next financial year, requires every Ugandan to have a national ID to open a bank account, get employment, and access medical facilities. Individual will also use IDs to register, purchase or transfer land.