Mushabe Osborn the manager of public relations and corporate affairs at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has said that they are ready for the mass enrolment and renewal identification process that is due to take place in August 2023.
According to Osborn, Ugandans should collectively engage in this program because they are bringing services closer to the people hence registering citizens at the Parish level.
“This program will also cater to those that had never registered for national identity cards”. He emphasized.
Under this mass enrolment, NIRA will renew all identity cards of citizens that are about to expire and also give employment opportunities to eligible Ugandans.
Mushabe made these remarks while addressing Journalists at the weekly security briefing held at Naguru on Monday.
In 2014-15, NIRA conducted its first enrolment of national IDs across the country and all those issued within that period had a duration of 10 years. With this upcoming enrolment, NIRA addressed that it to change the current cards with the improved high-tech ones with a chip that can identify people’s eyes and recognizes their DNA.
As per Section 56 of the Uganda Registration of Persons Act 2015 which NIRA derives its mandate, Mushabe highlighted that lately, they are only waiting for the Minister to prescribe the dates upon which every person required to register under this Act shall register to smoothly begin this process.
“It’s good to let our dear citizens know of what is expected such that we can be in tandem with what is required such that by the time the project begins we are good to go” Mushabe noted.
The Registration mouthpiece also clarified that the mass enrolment is free of charge for all Ugandans and no one should impersonate any citizen.
“This is a service offered by the government it is for free, we don’t want to hear cases of masqueraders asking for money the process is all for free let’s note that”. Mushabe reechoed
The new identity cards will bear features like the digital images of the Court of Arms and other artifacts that will make it difficult to fake, and the iris biometric that will help to address the challenge of persons whose fingerprint grooves have deteriorated.
In addition to those, the ID will bare a feature that allows persons with sight challenges to touch and feel selected identities and a security feature that can be detected under ultraviolet light also making it difficult to duplicate.
