NIRA says produced, dispatched five million IDs

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The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) says over five million national identity cards (IDs) have been produced and dispatched to districts across the country as part of the ongoing mass enrolment and renewal exercise.

NIRA assistant registrar Eddie Kalete, on December 3, 2025,  said production was “in high gear” and that the Authority had already sent batches of newly produced cards to district collection points.

“Many Ugandans who applied for the National ID, and I am glad to report that up to five million or more cards have been produced and, therefore, dispatched to different districts across the country,” Kalete said.

He told New Vision Online that the new cards incorporate upgraded security features, including a machine-readable zone and a 2D barcode, which is designed to make the documents harder to forge and quicker to authenticate during service delivery.

He urged applicants to pick up their cards from the designated collection centres and warned against using middlemen.

“ID collection is free,” he said, adding that NIRA discourages anyone paying third parties to retrieve cards on their behalf.

Kalete made the remarks while issuing IDs for Vision Group staff during an internal exercise aimed at updating employee records and improving workplace security. The initiative, introduced as part of Vision Group’s broader effort to streamline staff identification processes, brought registration and renewal services directly to employees, saving them the lengthy procedures often encountered at external offices.

It was during this exercise that several staff members received their renewed IDs, prompting messages of appreciation for the convenience and efficiency of the service.

Assistant Vision Group printing supervisor John Kasajja could not hide his excitement after receiving his renewed ID, describing the moment as “a great achievement.”

He said he felt proud and relieved, commending Vision Group for bringing services closer to staff and saving them the inconvenience of travelling long distances.

“If it were to go as expected, the process would have been long and tiring,” Kasajja said, praising the initiative for making the entire exercise faster and more accessible.

The mass issuance follows a nationwide enrolment and renewal exercise that NIRA launched in late May 2025 to replace expiring cards and register citizens who missed earlier rounds. The campaign targets millions of renewals and new registrations as part of a major push to update the national register before major national programmes and the 2026 general elections.

Challenges

While announcing the dispatch figures, NIRA’s leadership also acknowledged technical and administrative challenges that accompany such a large exercise. 

NIRA executive director Rosemary Kisembo has, in past briefings, acknowledged concerns about data integrity and duplication in the register and said the agency is working to strengthen checks and safeguards.

“You can’t rely on names alone in a country where hundreds of thousands share the same ones,” Kisembo said at a stakeholders’ meeting, stressing the importance of biometric verification and data audits to protect the register’s integrity.

Officials supplied detailed district-by-district dispatch lists to facilitate local collection; the published lists show dispatches to nearly all regions, with Kampala among the areas listed as having received significant consignments. NIRA said some cards have also been produced for Ugandans living abroad and that distribution channels for the diaspora will be announced separately.

Kalete acknowledged that despite large production runs, collection rates vary, and many printed cards remain uncollected at district offices.

He called on the public to use the official NIRA tracking tools and office contacts to confirm when their cards are available for pickup and to avoid unscrupulous intermediaries.

“The national ID is essential for accessing health services, banking, education, government programmes and participation in civic processes. We appeal to the public to respond promptly whenever we bring services closer to them,” he said.

Privacy and data-security advocates and some analysts have urged transparency as the mass exercise proceeds, warning that the large scale of the operation increases the stakes for accurate biometric matching and safe handling of personal data.

In response, Kisembo told New Vision that NIRA is collaborating with other agencies, including the data protection office, to audit systems and to implement stronger privacy and security protocols.

“We acknowledge the concerns and are actively working to strengthen the system,” she said.