ID cards: Officers demand pay, appointment letters
People register for national identity cards in Kampala recently. Registration officials in Masaka want the government to issue them with appointment letters and pay their allowance arrears. FILE PHOTO.
Masaka.
Registration officers in the ongoing national ID card exercise in Masaka Municipality have complained about non-payment of allowances and lack of equipment.
They were last seen on Tuesday at Masaka District Electoral Commission Registrar’s office demanding the payment of their daily allowances of Shs15,000, which they claimed were yet to be paid, nearly a month since the exercise started.
The officials also said they needed government to issue them with appointment letters to ensure that they are fully recognised as employees of the project.
The appointment letter, they said, would help them claim their pay in case of any discrepancies that may arise in future.
However, Mr Tolbert Musinguzi, the Electoral Commission registrar said the delay to pay registration officers resulted from the need to conduct proper identification for all those enrolled to carry out the registration exercise.
He said while the verification had delayed, everyone who recruited for the exercise will be paid “because the government has the money”.
Registration officers also complained about the lack of sufficient equipment to conduct the exercise.
Similar complaints have been raised in other parts of the country with civil society and opposition party leaders asking government to sort out inefficiencies.
However, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Internal Affairs, Mr Steven Kagoda, was this week quoted in this newspaper, saying government would next week dispatch more equipment to easy the process of registration.
In Masaka Municipality whereas registration officers expect to handle more than 40,000 people, registration cetres have only four kits with the situation compounded further by slow computers. The exercise has so far registered about 1,000 people since it kicked off.
slow
In Masaka Municipality, whereas registration officers expect to handle more than 40,000 people, registration centres have only four kits with the situation compounded further by slow computers. The exercise has so far registered about 1,000 people since it kicked off.
