Govt admits problems with ID registration

PARLIAMENT.
The government yesterday admitted that it is facing operational and technical difficulties in execution of the on-going mass registration for the national identity card.

Junior Internal Affairs minister James Baba explained to Parliament -- in the first of the expected weekly updates to be delivered every Thursday -- the five setbacks slowing the exercise.

He said they included complexity of citizenship verification, problematic registration kits, incompetent enrolment officers, poor storage of equipment upcountry and inadequate transport in some places.

Mr Baba said the issues are being reported directly to the national situation room at the Kololo Independence Grounds where the National Information Security System is headquartered.

“I call upon every Ugandan to support the project because issuance of the national identity card will revolutionalise service delivery,” he said, adding: “Inconveniences so far experienced by citizens due to lack of proper identification will be eliminated.”

The latest phase of mass registration for national IDs began on Monday, but the exercise has been plagued with many problems. Some areas have incomplete set of the kits while in other regions, enrolment officers are not conversant with operating the kits, resulting in registration of one person taking an hour.

Internal Affairs ministry spokesperson Pamela Ankunda said the first phase of the registration will take four months before registered individuals get IDs. It will cost Shs285 billion over two years, after the government spent more Shs200 billion on another phase of the project during which only 400 IDs were produced.

In yesterday’s update, Mr Baba said they have also received reports of missing materials, late arrival of gadgets, failure to meet requirements and residents claiming being unaware of the exercise.

Opposition MPs questioned why the government was carrying out the exercise without an enabling law and tasked the minister to explain if the registration is not a ploy to recruit and register voters for the 2016 general elections.

2016 elections
“Is the minister in order to say they are proceeding with the registration for the next elections?” the Leader of Opposition in Parliament, Mr Wafula Oguttu, asked.

The minister, however, said the registration is legitimate and will help create a national reference data bank about citizens to benefit all sectors and agencies of government.

Other government entities participating in the project include the Ugandan Registration Services Bureau, security agencies and the Electoral Commission.
Mr Baba said the ID is crucial because Ugandans who would not have obtained one by February 27, 2015, would not be eligible for employment, education or accessing health services in the country.

It is expected that Ugandans in the diaspora, including international students, will be able to register within the two phases since there is no special arrangement for them.

While as the first stage targets Ugandans of 16 years and above, the second phase will take care of Ugandans between age zero and 15.

“We chose to start registration at 16 years because those people will be 18 years in 2016 when we go for voting and we don’t want them to miss out since it’s this information that the Electoral Commission will use to issue voting cards,” James Baba, Junior Internal Affairs minister