'Parentage proof absence costing teenagers national IDs'

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Adoptive parents have called upon men and the public at large to embrace the culture of child adoption to give parentless children and teenagers a sense of belonging. They argue that fatherless children risk not acquiring national Identity cards (IDs) if they cannot verify their paternal ancestry.

Former Member of Parliament Sheila Kawamara Mishambi, who is also an adoptive mother and a member of the Adoptive Parents Initiative (API) says one of the biggest challenges faced by children in the care homes (orphanages) is failure to obtain these vital documents such as the national identity card and passport for lack of parental proof.

“There comes a time when we are all asked 'who is your father?' and 'who is your biological mother and biological father?', and this is pertinent when it comes to acquiring a national ID or a passport,” Kawamara said.

Kawamara made these remarks during a Father’s Day celebration at Tembuzi Cultural Fun Park in Seeta, Mukono district, on June 21, 2025. The event was organised by API and Business Network International (BNI).

She added that in most cases, these children do not know who their parents are since some of them were got rid of by their biological parents while still toddlers.

“Once they say I don’t know, that is the end of the journey. You can't get a passport, you can't get a national ID,” she said with concern.

“So, we are also doing a lot of advocacy as the Adoptive Parents Initiative in that area so that the Government knows that amidst us there are children or there are Ugandans who do not know who their parents are, so that they are also able to get national IDs.”

On Saturday, New Vision Online made attempts to reach out to the National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) through a telephone interview, but NIRA declined to comment on this issue. A source this publication spoke to who preferred anonymity quashed this claim, saying it is unlikely that someone can lack that information by the time of seeking an ID.

However, Kawamara said institutionalised children are usually rejected by their biological parents when they are babies, and when they grow up, ready to join society, they have no information concerning their paternity.

“We again close off and say we don't know you because you have no father, you have no mother, and it is worse when this young man or young woman wants to marry because nobody wants to marry or allow their daughter to get married to somebody who has no family,” she said.

API chairperson Andrew Rugasira said the platform was founded in 2023 to bring together parents who have adopted children, share experiences, build a supportive network, and engage in advocacy to ensure that more orphans are adopted within the country.

“We host the World Adoption Day in November, and we need resources to help us support our continued work of advocacy,” Rugasira said.

“When we look at the statistics, I think there's a United Nations (UN) report that said there are about 2.5 million children who are living without parents and about 50,000 children who are orphans in Uganda.”

He condemned parents who choose to end their children’s lives, saying there are other options than trying to kill these children.

According to him, some of these children are killed because they're not wanted.

“So, we are here to also encourage that there are organisations, there are institutions that can help support parenting, there are orphanages, there are care homes that can take care of these children and also your condition might not be continuous it might change down the road and this child can remain connected to you because every child needs a loving family to thrive and grow and contribute to their society,” he explained.

Father's Day is celebrated globally on the third Sunday of June, which implies that it fell on the 15th day of June this year.

It's a day to honour fathers and father figures and celebrate fatherhood and the paternal bond.

The event was attended by children from Sanyu Babies Home and Nsambya Babies Home, along with their caretakers and social workers.

Barbara Nankya, the executive director of Sanyu Babies’ Home, which has been in existence since 1929, said: “Many of the children come from garbage heaps. Some are rescued from pit-latrines, from the streets. Some are brought from abusive homesteads, and when they come into Sanyu, we take care of them with an ultimate goal of reintegrating them into the community.”

“We are delighted as the Sanyu Babies Home family to be part of this big celebration for Father's Day.”

She called on fathers to act more responsibly to reduce such cases from occurring, saying when a man denies his pregnancy, the mother is most likely to dump the child, and these, she said, usually end up in orphanages such as her baby’s home.

“So many children have been blessed with fathers and mothers because the men out there have chosen to adopt children. I also call upon the fathers out there who can give a helping hand to the children living in institutions because not all children can easily be adopted,” she said.