There is no church or mosque marriage without legal proof, says NIRA
According to NIRA, thousands of Ugandans who believe they are legally married because a pastor pronounced them husband and wife or an Imam conducted a Nikah are living in a legal vacuum, with no proof that can stand before courts, banks, immigration authorities.
Charles Nsimbi, the Principal Registration Officer at NIRA, speaking at NIRA offices in Lugogo in an interview with New Vision on Wednesday, September 16, 2026 (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has warned that there is no legal marriage in Uganda arising from a church, mosque or traditional ceremony unless it is registered with the government and backed by a NIN-linked marriage certificate.
According to NIRA, thousands of Ugandans who believe they are legally married because a pastor pronounced them husband and wife or an Imam conducted a Nikah are living in a legal vacuum, with no proof that can stand before courts, banks, immigration authorities or the Administrator General when a crisis strikes.
“Even if the church wedded you, if you do not have the marriage certificate from NIRA to confirm, there is no legal proof to that,” said Charles Nsimbi, the principal registration officer at NIRA.
Nsimbi revealed this on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, while speaking during an endorsement interview as part of the build-up to the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) Expo and Symposium at Kololo, organised in partnership with Vision Group.
“Without a NIN, you can’t register your marriage in any church. We conduct over 60 weddings every week, and some of our clients prefer them secretly because they are cheap and expressive,” Nsimbi insisted.
He explained that under the laws of Uganda, all marriages, whether church, mosque, civil, customary or Hindu, must be registered with NIRA, which is the official registrar of marriages and custodian of the National Marriage Register.
The licensed places of worship only act as agents of NIRA to celebrate the marriage, but the legal proof comes from registration.
Church can disappear, pastor can change
Nsimbi said many Ugandans only realise the importance of registration when it is too late, when a spouse has died, when there is domestic violence or when a church they married from closes.
“If your church disappears or your pastor changes goalposts to join the mosque as a Muslim, how will you prove that you got married for the government to give you any service if you fail to register your marriage with the government?” he asked.
“What will you do when your spouse dies? If your husband beats you up and the pastor you used to report to shifts to another location in the country, how will the government help you? If your wife over-nags, do you go to mosques, churches or do you run to the police? How will the government help you?” Nsimbi boldly asked.
He said NIRA is handling dozens of cases where widows are denied access to their late husbands’ bank accounts, National Social Security Fund (NSSF) savings or property because they cannot produce a government marriage certificate.
“People come crying. They have a video of their wedding in 2012 at a church in Makindye; they have a ring, but the church closed during COVID, and the pastor is now in Canada. There is no entry in the National Marriage Register. In the eyes of the law, that marriage never happened. The woman is treated as a girlfriend, not a wife,” Nsimbi said.
He added that the same applies to Islamic marriages.
“Many Muslims think a Nikah certificate written in Arabic by an Imam is enough. It is not. That certificate must be presented to NIRA for registration, and you must get the official government marriage certificate. Without that, when you go to the embassy for a family visa to Saudi Arabia or Dubai, they will not accept it.”
NIN is now compulsory
Under the new system, NIRA has linked marriage registration to the National Identification Number (NIN).
“You cannot register a marriage in any church, mosque or district without a NIN. Both the bride and groom must have a NIN. That is how we verify who is getting married, that they are above 18 years, and that they are not already married to someone else,” Nsimbi stated.
He explained that before any licensed church or mosque conducts a wedding, they are required to log into the NIRA system via UGHub, verify the NINs of the couple and file a notice of marriage for 21 days.
After the ceremony, the officiating minister has seven days to return the signed marriage certificate to NIRA for entry into the national register. NIRA then issues the official, secure, NIN-linked marriage certificate with a QR code that can be verified anywhere in the world.
“If you marry without NIN, that marriage cannot be entered into our system. It means it will never appear on your NIRA record. And when we roll out the new generation of IDs, your marital status will not be updated. You will remain single in government systems,” he warned.
Nsimbi said the linkage to NIN has also helped stop child marriages and bigamy because the system automatically flags if one of the parties is below 18 years or already married.
“We have stopped many cases. A man comes with a NIN showing he is 42 and already married in Gulu in 2019, but now wants to marry another woman in Kampala as a bachelor. The system tells us. Or a girl with a NIN showing 16 years, and the parents want to marry her off. The system blocks it.”
While churches and mosques provide spiritual blessing, Nsimbi said the government provides legal protection, and the two are not interchangeable.
When a husband dies, the widow needs a government marriage certificate to claim death gratuity, pension, insurance, NSSF, bank savings, and to be recognised as the legal heir. A church certificate is not accepted by the Ministry of Public Service or the Administrator General, he advised.
“If your husband beats you, you don’t run to the pastor who wedded you; you run to police and court. Police will ask for proof of marriage to open a case of domestic violence under the Domestic Violence Act. Court will ask for a government marriage certificate to grant divorce, custody and maintenance,” Nsimbi elaborated.
Additionally, embassies do not recognise church letters. They require a NIRA marriage certificate to issue a spousal visa, family reunion or citizenship by marriage.
“You need legal proof,” Nsimbi posed.
Come to Kololo Expo
Nsimbi invited all married and intending-to-marry couples to attend the NIRA Expo and Symposium at Kololo from September 24-26, where NIRA will be conducting free verification of marriage status and on-site registration.
“Come with your NINs; come with your church marriage certificate if you have it, we will check if you are in the National Register. If you are not, we will help you register there and then. If you are planning to marry, come and learn the right process so you don’t end up with a marriage that has no legal proof,” he said.
Nsimbi added that NIRA will also showcase how marriage registration is now integrated with NITA-U’s UGHub and UGPass platforms, meaning a person can verify their marital status at a bank or embassy in seconds using their NIN.
“For this year’s theme, ‘My Identity. My Shadow. Never Apart,’ we want people to understand that your identity follows you, and so does your marital status. If you are married, it should reflect in your NIN record wherever you go. That only happens if you register with NIRA.”
The three-day expo is expected to attract over 100,000 Ugandans, with exhibitions from religious institutions licensed to conduct marriages, the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary, banks, insurance companies and immigration.
NIRA says Uganda has over 2,000 licensed churches and mosques to conduct marriages, but less than 30% consistently return marriage certificates for registration, leaving thousands of couples legally exposed.
“There is no church, mosque marriage without legal proof. The proof is the NIRA certificate linked to your NIN. Without it, you are just cohabiting with a church photo,” Nsimbi concluded.