FDC opposes halt of ID registration

By Alfred Wandera and Joan Mbabazi

Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has termed the halting of the registration exercise for the national identity cards by the Ministry of Internal Affairs a nullity, saying Ugandans have a right to be registered anytime and anywhere.

Addressing the weekly press conference at the party headquarters at Najjanankumbi, a Kampala suburb, they party spokesperson, John Kikonyogo said government has no powers to stop anyone from registering.

The National Security Information System (NSIS), the body in charge of registering and issuing Ugandans with identity cards, set January 11 as the deadline for the  ID registration, suspending the exercise until after the 2016 general elections.

"Government is joking about stopping the registration exercise. It is a plan to stop those who did not register for IDs from voting. Registering Ugandans after the general elections will be useless since most people are targeting voting," said Kikonyogo.

Kikonyogo added that the Electoral Commission is mandated to carry out voter registration independent of the ID registration exercise.

"It is not in law that one must have a national ID to qualify to vote. One is supposed to get a voters card from the Electoral Commission. Therefore the Electoral Commission should register voters afresh. They should not use the ID registration register," said Kikonyogo.

Kikonyogo further said the registration for national identity cards has been unconstitutional since Registration of Persons Bill, 2014 which is supposed to mandate the exercise is still pending before Parliament.

During the launch of the ID distribution by President Museveni last year at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, Internal Affairs Minister, Gen. Aronda Nyakairima, urged Parliament to expedite the passing of the Bill so as to establish the National Identity Authority (NIA) to handle registration of persons.