State House Moves to Fast-Track National IDs for Presidential Hub Trainees

What the report says

State House says it will work with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) to speed up the issuance of National Identification Cards for trainees and graduates of Presidential Industrial Hubs who cannot yet access government support because they lack IDs. The announcement was made by State House Comptroller Jane Barekye during a visit to the Greater Masaka Zonal Presidential Industrial Hub in Masaka City as part of a nationwide assessment of the programme.

According to the report by Nile Post, the identification requirement remains in place for graduates seeking funds through their SACCOs, alongside a registered phone number in the beneficiary’s name. State House officials said the rule was meant to protect public money and ensure that support reaches the intended recipients. However, they found that missing National IDs had become a key barrier, especially in the Ankole and Greater Masaka zones, where some funds remain unused in district SACCO accounts.

Barekye said State House would compile lists of affected trainees and graduates and submit them to NIRA for faster processing, rather than drop the ID condition. Former trainees told officials they had struggled to get IDs through NIRA offices. The issue matters because the funding is intended to help young people turn vocational training into income-generating work after completing the hubs’ skilling programmes. The article also notes that last year President Museveni allocated money to district SACCOs to support hub graduates, and that the hubs were later opened to applicants without IDs at admission stage to avoid excluding poorer communities.