Govt lab says seeking sh2b for age-detecting machine

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The Directorate of Government Analytical Laboratory (DGAL) says it is in urgent need of shillings two billion for purchasing an age-determining machine.

“We came to Parliament and requested that they provide a budget for us to acquire equipment to assist us in performing this forensic analysis. There are increasing number of cases, I think, during the updating data with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), and they have been referring to us these cases to ascertain,” he said.

The entity’s head, Kepher Kuchana Kateu, disclosed this on February 25, 2026, during a meeting between Members of Parliament on the House Public Accounts Committee (Central), which at the time was chaired by Mawogola South lawmaker Gorett Namugga (NUP).

The engagement was anchored on the Auditor General’s report on DGAL for the 2024/25 Financial Year.

The move comes amid what AG Edward Akol says is an increase in age determination cases at the body.

“Now, because we don’t have the specialised equipment division, we use the questioned document division (QD) where they look at your birth certificate, school or academic documents, baptism records and do the analysis and then provide that yes indeed this person was born today with this and this. It is scientific, we look at the age of the ink on your baptism….” he said.

After which, they advise NIRA on whether the documents submitted speak to the age of the applicant.

“However, there are cases of petrochemical and hydrocarbon analysis, we do not have the capacity,” he admitted.

Kateu remembered that sometime back, Parliament's trade committee, then chaired by Mwiine Mpaka Rwamirama, engaged them to help identify petrol stations that were selling adulterated fuel.

And if it was not for a ‘small machine’, they had acquired the undertaking would have been in jeopardy.

Age cheating scandals

According to PAC vice-chairperson Goretth Namugga (NUP), the purchase of the age-assessment machine is timely, owing to rampant age cheating scandals by the female gender.

“People come to your place to determine other people’s ages, and you lack the capacity to give them adequate reports on some of these matters. So, can you speak to these inadequate capacities and some of these areas, most especially age? Men are suffering with women who don’t want to declare….” she argued.

However, Kasilo County MP Elijah Okupa said he wished the entity would provide a clear, round figure for the cost of the machine, especially as Parliament is in the budgeting season.

Fire arms and ballistics

That said, the same AG’s report notes that during the year under review, the directorate only had one firearms and ballistic expert following the retirement of the second officer in the 2022/23 Financial Year.

“It is an old area, yes, but the science around it, we are having new things; explosives, firearms. So, there is a lot of science related to ballistics and tool marking, which we need to capacitate our people. And the few, one or two people we have right now, had to go to a friendly country to train and come back. I am not at liberty to mention it,” Kateu explained.