KAMPALA, UGANDA — A Daily Monitor columnist is calling for a major overhaul of Uganda’s national identification system, arguing that the process of obtaining a national ID is too difficult and takes too long. Asuman Bisiika, a former editor for the East African Flagpost, said in a recent column that the complexity of the process is creating significant barriers for citizens.
Bisiika highlights what he sees as bureaucratic inefficiencies at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA). He points to the case of Omwami Sulait Kalemire, a traditional leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with deep familial ties to Uganda.
Kalemire, who grew up and was educated in Uganda, had to renounce his Ugandan citizenship to assume his traditional role in the DRC. His late father and grandfather were Ugandan citizens, but his connection to Uganda is now complicated by the rigid identification system.
The columnist also recounts an anecdote from the 2006 general elections in the DRC, where a voters’ registration card doubled as a national ID. He claims many Ugandan youths from the border town of Kiburara crossed into the DRC to register, effectively becoming Congolese citizens due to the ease of obtaining an official document.
Bisiika argues that the difficulty in acquiring a national ID has serious consequences, as the document is required for essential services. Without it, he notes, a person can’t apply for a passport, register a cell phone SIM card, or acquire titled land or a vehicle. He suggests that NIRA needs to improve its efficiency and better educate the public on the importance of the national ID.
“Why does it take ages for NIRA to process the acquisition of such an important document?” Bisiika writes.
