The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has appealed to Parliament for urgent recruitment funding to clear a massive backlog of uncollected national identity cards and handle pending registrations nationwide.
Appearing before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo revealed that over 5.4 million printed national IDs remain uncollected in NIRA offices across the country.
Kisembo attributed the distribution bottleneck and operational delays to severe understaffing following the expiration of temporary mass-enrollment contracts.
NIRA currently operates with an approved establishment of 571 positions, of which only 418 are filled—including just 201 frontline staff who directly interact with the public across all regional and district offices.
To address the crisis, NIRA is asking the government to expand its permanent structure from 571 to 998 positions, while authorizing the recruitment of 2,700 temporary workers for an 18-month period.
“The authority's existing workforce is insufficient for the scale of its statutory responsibilities,” Kisembo told MPs.
She estimated that even if all available temporary personnel were dedicated solely to issuing completed cards, distributing the 5.4 million uncollected cards would take approximately nine months.
Out of 15.4 million newly printed identity cards, only 10 million have been handed over to citizens.
The requested temporary workforce is expected to handle several major operational targets including distributing the 5.4 million uncollected identity cards, completing ID renewals for approximately six million citizens, enrolling an estimated 10.9 million unregistered Ugandans into the National Identification Register. They will also process name and detail modifications alongside birth, death, and marriage registrations following the 2024 rationalization of public agencies.
COSASE members raised strong concerns over customer service and system integration failures.
COSASE Deputy Chairperson and Kira Municipality MP, Hon. George Musisi, noted that internal inefficiency and low staff motivation exacerbate the delays, sharing his personal ordeal when attempting to pick up a completed card.
Committee Chairperson, Hon. Muwada Nkunyingi, questioned NIRA over reports that citizens receiving newly issued cards find their identification data unlinked or inactive on government databases.
Bungokho County South MP, Hon. Geofrey Wokuri, warned that delays in syncing NIRA databases with external agencies force youth to lose money when applying for driving permits, as paid application fees expire before NIRA verifies their credentials.
NIRA acknowledged the system integration gaps with the Face-to-Face Driving Permit system but assured lawmakers that an interim operational workaround is being rolled out to prevent financial loss for applicants.
