NIRA acquires high-capacity machines for national ID issuance

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Following the importation of 1,000 registration kits in December 2024 and 1.5 million national identity cards (IDs) in January this year, the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has procured new equipment to enhance ID production, renewal, and mass enrolment.

The consignment, delivered aboard Qatar Air Cargo, arrived at Entebbe Airport on March 31, 2025. Each machine is reportedly capable of producing 3,000 IDs per hour.

This was revealed by NIRA official Peter Okwalinga while receiving the consignment. He stated that the new equipment would accelerate the enrolment process, targeting the registration of 17.2 million Ugandans.

Okwalinga also noted that the registration kits received earlier had already been deployed at the parish level nationwide, where they are being used to train registration assistants and officers.

According to Okwalinga, preparations for the mass registration exercise began some time ago, starting with engagements with leaders at various levels, followed by the recruitment and training of over 10,000 registration assistants and officials.

Offloading the 1000 kits that were shipped in the first batch to be used in ID registration and renewal. These were followed by the national IDs in January and the production equipment on March 31.

"In this exercise, we are conducting mass enrolment, registering individuals who have never had national IDs, including infants, as well as updating data and facilitating mass ID renewals," he explained.

Okwalinga further clarified that most registration activities would take place at the parish level, except for procedures involving changes to an individual's particulars, which will be handled at the district level.

"Importantly, people will no longer need to travel to our centres in Kampala to have their details updated. Most of these processes have been decentralised," he emphasised.

Earlier this year, the Uganda Security Printing Company (USPC) delivered 1.5 million national IDs to NIRA as the first batch of an expected 8.1 million cards to be handed over by April 2025.

Hajji Abdul Nsubuga, a project manager at USPC, explained that the company was contracted to help design the new national IDs and incorporate enhanced security features.

"Upon approval from the NIRA board, we were tasked with supplying all the virgin national IDs with upgraded security features," Nsubuga said.

The current national IDs, issued between 2014 and 2015, have a 10-year lifespan and are set to expire by the end of 2025.

While receiving the mass registration kits in December last year, NIRA executive director Rosemary Kisembo assured the public that the new ID cards would include additional security enhancements, detectable under ultraviolet (UV) light, alongside the UV Bi-fluor Red feature, all designed to combat forgery.

According to NIRA, national ID enrolment and renewal are free of charge. However, changes to personal details and ID replacements may require a fee.