NIRA stuck with 5.4 million uncollected national IDs

What the report says

Uganda’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) told Parliament that it is holding more than 5.4 million newly printed national ID cards that have not yet been collected. The disclosure was made by NIRA executive director Rosemary Kisembo while appearing before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase). The agency said the buildup could slow access to services that increasingly depend on national identification, including banking, mobile money, driving permits and civil registration.

According to the report from The Observer, NIRA said it has printed about 15.4 million cards and issued roughly 10 million, leaving a large stock in its custody. Kisembo linked much of the delay to staffing gaps after temporary workers hired for the mass enrolment and renewal exercise expired. NIRA’s approved establishment is 571 positions, but only 418 are filled, with 201 directly serving clients. The authority said even with extra temporary staff, clearing the backlog could still take about nine months if workers focused only on card distribution.

MPs on Cosase questioned whether weak staffing alone explained the delays, raising concerns about service standards and whether newly issued IDs are fully activated in other government systems. The committee also heard that young applicants for driving permits face delays when ID details are not yet linked. NIRA said integration with the driving-permit system is still under way, though an interim workaround exists.

The article adds broader context: NIRA is also handling marriage-registration records transferred from URSB and continues to face a wider identification gap, with millions of Ugandans still outside the national register or awaiting card renewal.