Hundreds of Ugandans on Tuesday gathered at the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) offices in Kololo for the inaugural NIRA Expo Symposium, an event aimed at showcasing the importance of citizen identification in national development.The expo was officially opened by the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hon. Ephraim Kamuntu, and attracted several senior government officials, security leaders, business personalities and other key stakeholders.
Among those who attended were UPDF generals, police officers, prisons officials, judges, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) officials and representatives from different government institutions.While opening the symposium, Minister Kamuntu praised NIRA for its contribution to maintaining peace and security in Uganda, saying that the identification of citizens plays a critical role in helping the government understand and manage security issues.He explained that proper registration of citizens enables authorities to identify individuals involved in criminal activities and take appropriate action.“Registration of all citizens helps the government to identify criminals and how to deal with them. Identification is the heart of security,” Kamuntu said.The Minister added that national identification is also important for government planning because authorities cannot effectively plan for a population they do not know.
He encouraged all Ugandans who have not yet registered to obtain national identification cards, noting that identification is required for accessing many government services and participating in national activities.“You are counted as a Ugandan by identification. Voting is by identification, accessing government services is by identification, and allocation of government resources is through identification,” he said.However, Kamuntu challenged NIRA to work towards achieving 100 percent registration of Ugandan citizens, saying that the authority has so far registered about 78 percent of the population.“NIRA has so far registered 78 percent and without making 100 percent, the job is not yet done,” he said.
The Minister also revealed that government is working to secure a permanent home for NIRA, explaining that the authority’s operations are sometimes disrupted whenever major events are held at Kololo.“When there is any serious function at Kololo, NIRA closes offices and this hinders its operations,” he said, directing the Permanent Secretary to make arrangements for funding towards a permanent NIRA facility.Kamuntu further highlighted manpower shortages as one of the challenges affecting NIRA’s operations, saying that the authority requires more staff to fully carry out its mandate.“NIRA is part of security and they need more staff to fully operationalise,” he said.During the symposium, Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) also launched the integration of the National Identification Number (NIN) with tax registration processes, replacing the traditional Tax Identification Number (TIN) system.
URA Commissioner General John Musinguzi said the move would strengthen tax administration by making it easier to identify taxpayers and prevent misuse of tax identification details.He explained that some individuals had previously used other people’s TIN numbers to avoid paying taxes, sometimes causing innocent people to face consequences.“With NIN replacing TIN, wrongdoers will be easily identified,” Musinguzi said.The URA boss added that the improved identification system will support revenue collection and contribute to economic growth, expressing confidence that Uganda’s GDP could rise above 20 percent in the next three years.
