The National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) has refuted claims that the national Identity Card issuance processes have been hijacked by brokers who are now making millions of shillings from unsuspecting Ugandans.
Addressing the media on Monday, the authority spokesperson Gilbert Kadilo said Uganda’s National ID system is among the best systems in the world and they have had very little experience of bribery and brokerage tendencies by middlemen.
NIRA’s reaction follows reports alleging how middlemen within and outside the institution have fetched millions of shillings from the poor and ignorant Ugandans who are dying to have their National IDs.
In one of the articles published by a local media outlet, Isaac Okia is mentioned as a broker who stations at the NIRA office located in Kalinabiri in Nakawa Division. Okia said that his service is to ease the process of securing a national ID for those who find it both bureaucratic and problematic.
According to the same article, on a daily routine, Okia helps over 15 people from whom he collects over Shs750,000 that is when the day goes well on him. He, however, noted that he shares some of the money with local council leaders who provide him with the stamps. The money he charges helps him also to secure necessary stamps from the District Security Officers (DISOs).
Okia added that even within the NIRA they have correspondents who quicken their services.
However, Kadilo called this blackmail alleging that the whistle blower had some misunderstanding at the offices and decided to use the media.
“I wish to note, that this issue was unnecessarily blown out of proportion more so by an individual of a journalism background whom we discovered that he had an issue with his application process and after an investigation, we were able to quickly resolve the challenge and got him his ID. So the idea that NIRA’s offices have been taken by middlemen is not true.”
He emphasized that NIRA has built trust over time which is why the National ID can be used as a travel document within East African countries. “I wish to note that our systems are secure and well protected both physically and through our cyber protection units.”
On the issue of forgeries of LC letter and DISO stamps, Kadilo said that because registration involves other actors other than NIRA, there are stages that the authorities has no control of such as local leaders and DISOs.
Currently, NIRA operates 117 offices across the country in various districts with the head office at Kololo and the five offices in each of the five divisions of Kampala.
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