By:Admin
KAMPALASpeaking at a function where the new NIRA Executive
Director, Rosemary Kisembo assumed office on Friday, Odong said the move is
already in the pipeline and urged her to ensure it is realized by the year
2024.
“We expect a new and enhanced identity card by 2024.
The journey has already begun but we would like you to grab the bull by the
horns so that by 2024 we have a new card with an electronic chip and other new
features,”Odong said at a function held at the NIRA headquarters in Kololo.
“We want an enhanced national ID that will enable
people move to other countries easily but also enable them transact business.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the function, the
Internal Affairs Minister said the new ID will have new readable features.
“The new ID that we envisage in 2024 will have
enhanced features and most likely we will have it digitalized so we will be
able to hold more data on that same facility (ID).It will be more a little
robust than we have now,” Gen Jeje Odong said.
Asked whether the electronic ID will have an expiry
date, the Internal Affairs Minister said government is yet to decide on the
same.
“We will determine whether that will be a necessary
requirement for the new identity card but as we speak now we have not yet
determined whether it will have an expiry date.”
In 2015, after setting up of the National
Identification and Registrations Authority (NIRA), government started mass
registration of citizens for issuance of the national Identity Cards.
However, whereas Uganda’s population is above 40
million, only 25 million of these have been registered by NIRA.
Whereas having a national ID is mandatory to be able
to get most government services, a smaller number of the
population has been issued with the documents, a failure that NIRA has
attributed to a number of challenges including lack of adequate staff and
funds.
Speaking on Friday, the Internal Affairs Minister
tasked the new NIRA Executive Director to ensure all Ugandans are registered
but also getting cards since it is their right.
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