Register every life event, minister Kamuntu asks Ugandans
Kamuntu said timely registration of births, deaths, marriages and other civil events is critical for accurate planning. Without reliable registration, he said, Government programmes such as PDM, GROW and Emyooga cannot reach their intended beneficiaries.
Internal affairs minister Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu aid NIRA had so far registered more than 36.2 million people, accounting for 78.8% of the total population. (Photo by Miriam Namutebi)
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Internal affairs minister Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu has urged Ugandans to register life events as they occur to help the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) achieve 100% registration and provide citizens with the relevant documents.
In his opening remarks on the first day of a three-day NIRA Expo ending October 1, 2026, Kamuntu said NIRA had so far registered more than 36.2 million people, accounting for 78.8% of the total population.
He called on Ugandans to work with NIRA to ensure everyone is registered, saying comprehensive registration is essential for national planning and implementing development programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises (GROW), and Emyooga.
Registered, 21% gap remains
According to Kamuntu, Uganda's population stands at 45.9 million, based on the 2024 UBOS Census, meaning more than nine million people are not yet captured in the national identification database.
“NIRA has registered over 36.2 million people, accounting for 78.8% of the total population. We need to close that gap. Every birth, every death, every person living in Uganda must be registered,” he said.
He said timely registration of births, deaths, marriages and other civil events is critical for accurate planning. Without reliable registration, he said, Government programmes such as PDM, GROW and Emyooga cannot reach their intended beneficiaries.
“This is key for national planning and implementation of development projects like PDM, GROW, Emyooga, among others. If we don't know our people, we cannot plan for them, we cannot fund them, and we cannot serve them,” Kamuntu said.
NIN to become Tax Identification Number
At the expo, Kamuntu, together with the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA), launched a system under which the National Identification Number (NIN) will become a person's Tax Identification Number (TIN).
URA commissioner general John Musinguzi Rujoki said the move is intended to improve revenue collection and support the President's directive to increase the revenue-to-GDP ratio to about 20% in the next five years.
“There is no government that can effectively serve its people without proper regulation and proper identification. Taxation will be one of the services to be built on this foundation as URA has only 5 million registered taxpayers yet against over 37 million registered people with NIN,” Rujoki said.
He said URA currently has only five million registered taxpayers, compared with more than 37 million people registered with NIRA, indicating a significant gap in tax compliance.
One person, ten TINs, loophole to close
Rujoki said the old TIN system made it possible for one person to have multiple TINs and use them to evade taxes.
“With the old TIN system, it has been possible for one to have ten TINs and use them to dodge taxes as they can close one and open another. It will take URA about one year to have fused both systems,” he said.
“It has also been possible for someone to access another person's TIN and imports and dodge tax where URA has been running after the wrong people. But with a secure National Identification database, it will be impossible for one to replicate or use another person's number,” Rujoki stressed.
Under the new system, every Ugandan's NIN will automatically become their TIN, creating a single, secure and verifiable identity for taxation. The integration is expected to address multiple TINs, identity theft in tax matters and the use of false identities by importers.
Rujoki said the integration will take about one year to fully fuse the two systems, after which the NIN will be the sole identifier for tax transactions.
Identity at the centre of economic take-off
Kamuntu said the URA reform demonstrates the central role of NIRA in Uganda's economic development.
He said once NIRA achieves 100% registration, the Government will be able to widen the tax base without necessarily increasing tax rates because more people engaged in business will be visible and linked to their identities.
The NIRA Expo showcased how NIRA data is being linked to services provided by URA, the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), Immigration, telecommunications companies, banks and mobile money providers.
Kamuntu called on Ugandans who have not yet registered, as well as those whose children are not registered, to use the expo and ongoing countrywide registration drives to obtain their National IDs.
“Register every activity as it happens – birth, death, marriage. That is how we shall attain 100% and give every Ugandan the documents they need to access services and be counted in the development of this country,” he said.