NATIONAL IDs EXPIRY: Ugandans to Pay No Money for Renewal of IDs

President Yoweri Kaguta Tibuhaburwa Museveni’s government has made it clear that Ugandans will not be required to pay any Shilling in order for their national Identification /Identity (IDs) cards to be renewed. 

Most of the Ugandan national IDs were issued in 2014 and 2015, and can last only one decade. This means that they have to be renewed since most of them have 2024 and 2025 and their expiry years.

With the Ministry of Internal Affairs setting January 2023, which is about seven months away, as the date when the exercise to renew all national IDs and enroll new people into the national identification register, some people were worried of the charges.

In the course of the 10 years that the IDs have been valid, one had to pay Shs50,000 for renewal process such as replacement and correction of errors such as those on revision of date of birth as initiated by the card holder.

But with the mass renewal exercise, government will spend billions, over Shs430bn to be exact, to facilitate the renewal exercise, and Ugandans will not be expected to pay, according to Gen David Muhoozi, the State Minister for Internal Affairs.

However, the Ministry and Government will have to do much more to address a number of gaps regarding the issuance of national IDs.

When Wakiso District Woman MP Betty Ethel Naluyima recently raised the matter of the expiry of national IDs, MPs told Minister Gen Muhoozi the challenges faced by their constituents as far as the issuance of national IDs is concerned.

Rukungiri District Woman MP Medius Natukunda raised the issue of some students who registered for national IDs three years ago but are yet to receive their cards, and are now being directed to register once again, with officials at the National Identification Registration Authority (Nira) telling them the information previously submitted was nolonger available.

Kiruhura District Woman MP Jovanice Rwenduru was concerned that university students seeking study loans under the government loan scheme were missing out due to lack of national IDs.

Ayivu Division East MP Geofrey Feta asked government to rein in some RDCs and DISOs who have made it a habit to order Nira officials to issue non-citizens with Ugandan national IDs.

Minister Gen Muhoozi also recently revealed that government is planning to increase the amount charged for National ID renewal, ‘date of birth revision’ and ‘error correction’ from Shs50,000 to Shs500,000. The minister defended this proposal (Read Story Here).