35 million Ugandans registered in national ID drive

KAMPALA - About 35 million people have been registered by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) following the completion of the first major milestone of the mass enrolment and renewal exercise 2025/2026, New Vision Online has heard.

Addressing journalists today, February 9, 2026, at Police Headquarters in Naguru, Kampala, NIRA registrar Claire Ollama said the parish-level rollout of the exercise, which started on May 27, 2025, officially closed its first milestone on February 8, 2026, following a government-approved extension.

“The project was initially planned to run for six months, up to November 8, 2025. However, due to the scale of the exercise and public demand, the Government approved an extension,” Ollama said.

Data migration complete

Ollama explained that the mass enrolment exercise was designed to migrate all legacy national identification data to a new system, register new eligible citizens, renew expired and expiring national identity cards, update records, and issue IDs to eligible Ugandans aged 16 years and above.

According to NIRA data presented at the briefing, 100 per cent of legacy data migration covering 28,571,893 records has been completed.

Renewals, changes of particulars and first ID issuance for citizens previously registered as infants had a target of 15.8 million, with 14,311,877 records completed, representing 90.5% achievement.

However, new registrations lagged behind, with only 6,416,958 registrations achieved against a target of 17.2 million, translating to 37.3%.

“This remains an area for concerted effort to ensure that every eligible citizen finds their way onto the register,” Ollama said.

Ollama said NIRA’s printery produced 10,152,559 National ID cards, based on applications for citizens aged 16 years and above.

Out of these, 7,261,435 cards were shipped to districts nationwide. However, only 2,581,457 cards had been collected by citizens, representing 35.5 percent of the issued stock.

She urged applicants to pick up their cards to avoid congestion and storage challenges.

Despite the closure of parish-level operations, Ollama said all NIRA services, including registration, renewal and change of particulars, will continue at district offices across the country.

“Kampala and Wakiso have unique service arrangements,” she said.

In Kampala, services are organised by division, with applicants assigned specific collection points based on division codes indicated in official acknowledgement messages.

Collection centres include Rubaga Road near Rubaga Cathedral (Rubaga Division), Lumumba Avenue above the Ministry of Public Service offices (Central Division), Lukuli (Makindye Division) and opposite Riham Factory (Kawempe Division).

Applicants were advised to confirm their division codes before visiting collection centres to avoid delays.

In Wakiso district, services continue at sub-county and division levels, with card collection available at Naluvuule, Kasangati (Masooli) and Namugongo Martyrs Shrine, serving multiple sub-counties and divisions.

Ollama also announced the rollout of mass National ID issuance for Ugandans in the diaspora, starting with the United Arab Emirates.

The three-day exercise runs from February 9 to February 11, 2026, at Hyatt Regency Dubai Creek Heights, located in Dubai Healthcare City.

She said applicants should refer to the published list of ready cards, but clarified that those who have received official SMS notifications should proceed for collection even if their names do not appear on the list.