Rosemary Kisembo, Executive Director at NIRA
The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has revealed that the upcoming National Identity Cards that are under processing will come with nine new security features which will make it hard for them to be forged.
The revelation was made by Rosemary Kisembo, Executive Director at NIRA while appearing before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), during the consideration of the December 2024 Auditor General.
Kisembo explained that the new National IDs will be incorporated with nine enhanced security elements, some of which are similar to those incorporated in the national currency and this is owed to the past experience where fraudsters could superimpose images over other people’s details to create fake national IDs, but the new features will make such counterfeiting impossible.
“We have also added what is called tactile. For those who are living with disability, to be able to identify on which part of the card their name and card number is. We had put it on the name, but it had an interaction with a hologram that was not favorable. We have added an additional hologram. So, we have a total of about nine new security features,” said Kisembo.
Her remarks were in response to questions raised by both Martin Muzaale (Buzaaya County) and Nathan Itungo (Kashari South) who questioned the rationale behind the renewal of national Ids, given the fact that over UGX380Bn has been earmarked for the exercise.
Muzaale asked, “What could have been the rationale of upgrading your national ID? Were there cases of forgery that was your basis? Because, I find this exercise very expensive for Ugandans because I’m looking at the budget costs, which was UGX300Bn, that is the initial budget, I don’t know whether it’s going to go for how long for you to complete this exercise. Or that money was only for one year or for the entire exercise until everyone is actually registered.”
The same sentiments on what is new about the new IDs were shared by Itungo who asked, “About the renewals, which new features have you added on the new IDs that are different from the old ones? And Mr Chairman, with your permission, if I could get my ID, then I would look at those features.”
“If you notice that we put something under the face here called NID. Previously, it was not there, people would just go to Nassar Road and overwrite this picture with someone else’s picture and keep the rest of the detail. Now we have embedded a ghost image here and even in the map to address that. We have also embedded features that return a person to our side to verify with consent what we actually have on our side, it is a small barcode that has a link to get details. It’s an online verification,” explained Kisembo.
The Nakaseke Central MP, Allan Mayanja demanded to know why Ugandans abroad were being required to present letters from Local Council, but Kisembo refuted these claims pointing out that the requirements for Ugandans living abroad are clearly stipulated on the NIRA website and they are only required to produce letters from their respective Embassies.
The people outside Uganda. You gave them one option of registering online. But these people are facing a challenge of your system requiring a letter from the chairperson of the LC1. I thought that you could just ask for the location of the person because I have got a complaint from Nakasake Central for those people in Dubai who are in Abu Dhabi, when they are registering online, they are being asked to provide a letter from the LC1 chairperson. And they couldn’t access it,” noted
The Executive Director NIRA responded, “Even if you checked on our website, you’re only required to present a letter from our embassy that we can know you’re a bona fide Ugandan. We do not require you to present a letter from the LCI. Why would you require that proof? Even when it expires, they do not cease to be Ugandans, but it’s not very easy for us to validate or support an expired document even when you issued it? It is prudent that for our citizens who are out of our country to be living peacefully within other jurisdictions with the right documents.”
Kisembo also provided an update on the mass enrolment and renewal of national Ids that begun on 27th May 2025, indicating that the Authority has so far printed 1million national identity cards whose distribution has started distributing in all the146 districts of Uganda.
“We have renewed 8,849,714 expired cards or persons who presented themselves, and we have 1,082,576 new registrations. We have 64,476 Get First IDs, those are children who have turned 16, who have applied for a new ID. We have 5,508 people who have applied to correct their information or to change their particulars. We have so far printed close to 1,000,000 roundabout day cards for the persons who begun with the renewal exercise,” said Kisembo
