By CHIMPREPORTS
Panic has set in at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) amidst reports of a covert move by high-ranking officials at the organization and the Ministry of Internal Affairs to advocate for the merging of NIRA with the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC).
This proposed merger would result in the establishment of a new agency named the National Citizenship and Registration Services.
Despite the Cabinet’s resolution during last year’s consolidation of various government bodies, affirming NIRA’s status as an independent entity with an expanded mandate, including the registration of births, marriages, and deaths, previously managed by the Uganda Registration Services Bureau, concerns have arisen about the potential amalgamation.
On January 24, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reportedly conducted a meeting, with attendees including its Permanent Secretary, Lt Gen Joseph Musanyufu, Deputy NIRA Executive Director, Brig Stephen Kwiringira, Public Service Permanent Secretary, Catherine Birwakwate, and DCIC officials. The primary agenda of this meeting was to discuss the potential merger of bodies under the Ministry.
Sources revealed that certain officials within the Ministry of Internal Affairs have been urging the Public Service Ministry to present to the Cabinet the proposition of merging NIRA with DCIC.
While confirming the occurrence of the meeting, Simon Mundeyi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, denied allegations of clandestine plans to merge NIRA with DCIC. He clarified, “We only discussed the functionality of NIRA in the sense of giving it additional responsibility of registering aliens.” Mundeyi emphasized that the idea of reverting NIRA to the Internal Affairs Ministry was not part of the discussion.
Nevertheless, sources have identified two primary motives behind the Ministry of Internal Affairs officials’ desire to centralize the control of ID registration and renewal under a newly established agency.
Firstly, concerns stem from the dubious practices and irregularities observed during the inaugural mass ID registration in 2014. The Ministry of Internal Affairs faced accusations of corruption and the unauthorized registration of tens of thousands of aliens. Notably, individuals from Pakistan, where dual citizenship is prohibited, were issued national IDs by the ministry.
A source revealed, “As of today, DCIC still provides certificates of citizenship by naturalization and registration to these aliens for NIRA to issue them Ugandan national IDs.”
While acknowledging past mistakes, Simon Mundeyi admitted, “There were some mistakes in the past – where we had the late Honorary Consul of Pakistan Mr Katatumba writing letters to Immigration recommending some Pakistanis for national IDs and saying Pakistan was allowing dual citizenship. Some Pakistanis got the IDs wrongly. When we sought clarification from the Pakistan Embassy in Kenya, the record was set right that they don’t allow dual citizenship.” He assured that the Ministry has become more stringent, carefully examining the law and establishing the aliens’ country of origin before issuing any certificates.
Secondly, the officials are purportedly seeking a more stringent approach to the registration process due to concerns about the potential for illegal registrations and the issuance of IDs to non-qualifying individuals.
NIRA’s Deputy Executive Director, Brig Stephen Kwiringira, expressed his lack of awareness regarding plans to merge NIRA with DCIC, stating, “The agenda of Cabinet cannot be determined by Permanent Secretaries in meetings lower than the cabinet.”
He further said the merging of government bodies “started from the top (Cabinet) which concluded the matter. Those entities which were not merged included NIRA. There is no way such forums (January 24 meeting) can override or influence cabinet decisions.”
Multi-billion contracts
Sources have revealed that certain officials within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who had supported unsuccessful bids from companies like Muehlbauer and Mossip in a multi-billion shilling deal to supply software and ICT accessories for national ID issuance, are now attempting to obstruct the impending national mass registration and ID renewal.
Allegedly, these officials, backers of defeated companies in the bidding process, are pushing for the merger of NIRA with DCIC to facilitate a new procurement process managed by the Internal Security Organisation (ISO) under classified procurements.
The contract to process national IDs was awarded to the Uganda Security Printing Company (USPC) in a joint venture with the government. Despite this, insiders claim that by regaining control of the national ID processing mandate, officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs hope to secure access to substantial funds for the project and potentially conceal any illicit activities.
NIRA’s budget for the 2024/25 financial year stands at Shs 666 billion, earmarked for the implementation of the mass registration and renewal of national identity cards, particularly those set to expire in August 2024.
ChimpReports has gathered that NIRA is acquiring 5,500 kits for the upcoming mass enrollment and renewal project, with a total cost of Shs 121 billion. Initially budgeted at Shs 17 million per kit, the procurement cost has now been increased to Shs 22 million per kit, resulting in a substantial increase of Shs 27.5 billion in the overall cost.
Comparatively, in Ethiopia, the government is procuring biometric kits for its national ID project at $3,000 (Shs 10 million) each.
NIRA has announced the addition of iris biometrics to the new ID card, which will also function as a travel document within the East Africa Region. The card is designed to incorporate advanced security features to ensure secure ID verification and authentication, minimizing the risk of personal data compromise.
According to NIRA’s regulations, holders of expiring national IDs are required to apply for renewal at least two months before the card’s expiry. Consequently, by June, NIRA is expected to commence the processing of IDs for the 17.4 million unregistered Ugandans and the renewal of identity cards for the 25.9 million registered Ugandans.
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