15m registered as ID exercise closes

Residents of Kireka, a Kampala suburb, register for the national identity cards yesterday. Photo by Stephen Wandera

What you need to know:

Next opportunity. The next enrolment is scheduled to take place after the 2016 general elections.

Kampala. The National Identity Card enrolment exercise ended yesterday with a number of Ugandans still queuing to be registered.
Officials of the National Security Information System (NSIS) project said as of December 12, last year more than 15 million people had been registered and more than 100,000 cards issued.
“Today (yesterday) is the last day for ID enrolment, resumption will be after the 2016 general elections when those who are below 16 will have an opportunity to register,” Mr Paul Bukenya, the deputy spokesperson of the NSIS, said.
Mr Bukenya said the project had initially targeted 18 million Ugandans above the age of 16 years but the figure was revised to 15.9 million after the preliminary results from the 2014 census.
He said the 15 million represents 98.9 per cent of the target population.
Mr Bukenya said the final figure of the registered nationals will be released this week after Ministry of Internal Affairs makes a final tally.
He said non-citizens living in the country would also have an opportunity to register.
At some centres yesterday, some people had come to pick their cards while other areas run out of forms.

Budget constraints
Speaking at a media briefing recently, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, said the ministry was ending the exercise to ensure that it does not stretch beyond the allocated budget.
Gen Aronda said only special cases like the UPDF personnel operating outside the country will be considered beyond January 11.

Duration
The exercise began in April 2014 at parish level and was closed in September 2014 when the continuous enrollment at sub-county level began.