Gulu locals decry sluggish pace of national ID renewal

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Residents within and outside Gulu city have expressed concern over the slow pace of mass enrolment and the renewal of expired national identity (ID) cards.

This follows the launch of the exercise across the country on May 27, 2025.

According to locals, it takes between 20 and 40 minutes for each applicant to be processed. The exercise includes capturing fingerprints and iris scans, reaffirming signatures, and updating personal details such as current residence and email address.

Denis Opiyo, a resident of Gulu city who attempted to renew his expired ID on Monday, said the process consumed most of his day due to the slow pace of the officials handling the applicants.

According to him, some of the officials also lacked proper customer care skills.

Meanwhile, some of the officials who spoke to our reporter on condition of anonymity attributed the sluggish pace of the exercise to poor network and internet connectivity.

Innocent Oryema, the NIRA registration officer for Gulu district, said the equipment in use is new and officials are still familiarising themselves with it.

He added that plans are underway to roll out the exercise across all parishes in Omoro and Gulu districts, as well as Gulu city, to ease congestion at the three main centres currently handling applicants: Gulu City Yard, Gulu district council hall, and the NIRA office.