Fake national ID-selling trio in trouble

Since necessity is the mother of invention, three men saw a need and decided to exploit it, albeit unscrupulously.

Karamoja region, being a hotbed of people in much need of national documentation services, and 'far from the long arm of the law'/centre, three men have landed into trouble in attempting to enrich themselves through unscrupulous means: Dealing in fake national identification documents, especially identity cards.

Now, three men accused of producing an unspecified number of counterfeit national identities have been arrested in Moroto district. The theft endangers the country, according to the National Identification Regulatory Authority (NIRA).

The two suspects in custody at the Moroto Central Police Station have been identified as Elvis Ejuu, Patrick Obwana and a bodaboda rider being held at Nakapiripirit Central Police Station.

Several sophisticated equipment used in the making of the IDs were also recovered in a container next to Lia Bridge at junior quarters in Moroto Municipality. These included colour printers, scanners, laptops, ink jets and photocopiers.

Talep Susan, the Moroto district NIRA registrar, told the New Vision Online that several complaints had been lodged in her office.

“These cards could not be detected by the scanners at the telecom service provider [MTN],” she noted, adding that these concerned community members opted to raise the matter with our office.

Talep further said most of them, after failing to secure new SIM cards, wanted NIRA to provide confirmation letters.

“As usual, we did verify some of the IDs on the information client system,” she said, adding that it was discovered that most of the national identification numbers did not exist.

Talep also said they further searched using the card numbers, but there was no trace of the information in the system, adding that it was simply not matching.

“We managed to trace one of the IDs as the NIN for some person in Western Uganda,” she said.

However, Talep asked Ugandans not to be hoodwinked by such scrupulous persons, saying those with expired IDs can seek renewal at various district offices, even at the sub-county level or lower administrative units.

Mike Longole, the Karamoja public relations officer, when contacted, acknowledged the arrest of the trio.

“We have them in our cells,” he noted, adding that suspects have placed the security of the citizens at risk.

Longole said the fake IDs could be exploited by criminal gangs to thwart security endeavours to track criminals and even potential terrorists.

“You are aware we now have threats of terrorists attacking us,” he said, adding that the security will undertake all steps to track all those at large.

Meanwhile, information available indicates the master forgers have been selling the IDs between shillings 15,000 and 30,000.