NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo addresses the media during a workshop on the forthcoming mass enrollment exercise for national IDs at Protea Hotel Kololo, Kampala (PHOTO/Musa Mbogo)
The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has announced that 15.8 million National Identity Cards will expire between August 2024 and June 2025. Rosemary Kisembo, NIRA’s Executive Director, made this announcement during a media workshop on the forthcoming mass enrollment exercise held at Protea Hotel Kololo.
Kisembo noted that all expired National IDs will be included in the forthcoming mass renewal process. “A total of 15.8 million national IDs are due to expire by August 2025 and will be considered for renewal during the mass enrollment exercise,” she said.
Regarding the upcoming mass enrollment exercise, Kisembo stated that it aims to register between 17 and 18 million Ugandans who have not yet been enrolled. “There are between 17 and 18 million new Ugandans to be registered. At our current pace of registering one million new Ugandans daily, it would take us 17 years to register all of these people,” she said.
According to the latest figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), only 27.4 million Ugandans are currently registered out of a population of 45.9 million. NIRA is set to begin the mass enrollment for upgraded national IDs across the country, featuring enhanced attributes such as iris recognition and other improvements.
Addressing the question of why national IDs have an expiry date, Kisembo explained that all documents have an expiration date. NIRA chose a 10-year validity period for the IDs because people naturally change over time, and the quality of the materials and security features used in the IDs can deteriorate. “A document expires. The national ID card is considered a security document, therefore it expires. Factors determining expiry include the quality of the material and security features, which degenerate over time.”
Kisembo urged those who wish to participate in the 2026 elections to register for national identification cards now, as this data must be submitted to the Electoral Commission before the general elections. The mass enrollment will also include the 1.5 million Ugandans born each year, according to recent findings. She urged Ugandans to register all newborns to ensure they receive National Identification Numbers.
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