Kampala: The rollout of new national identity cards in Uganda has come under fresh scrutiny in Parliament, as Aswa County representative, Hon. Patrick Okello, reported significant failures in the QR-code verification system embedded in the cards. These failures are reportedly leaving citizens unable to access essential services.According to African Press Organization, Hon. Okello (DP) raised the issue during a plenary session presided over by Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth. He highlighted that some holders of the newly issued national IDs are being turned away when seeking services that require electronic identity verification, such as banking and telecom services. "Ugandans are crying out because when seeking banking services, buying new SIM cards from the telecom service providers, and SIM card replacements, some of these services that require the QR code, the new IDs QR codes are not responding," Okello stated.Hon. Okello urged the government and the National Identification and Registration Authority (NI RA) to explain the continued failure of the QR codes, which were supposed to be operational by 31 March 2026, following NIRA's acknowledgment of the issue on 9 February 2026. He questioned why the problem persisted months after the stated deadline and requested that the Minister for Internal Affairs and NIRA provide a new deadline for operationalizing the national IDs.Additionally, Okello raised concerns over a Shs5,000 charge for a NIRA letter issued to facilitate individuals whose cards cannot be electronically verified. Under the Registration of Persons Act, 2015, NIRA is responsible for managing the National Identification Register and verifying and authenticating information related to person identification.Government Chief Whip, Hon. Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, acknowledged the concerns raised and assured that the government would seek a response from the Minister of Internal Affairs. "Government has taken note of the question. I will ask the Minister of Internal Affairs to respond," Aceng told Parliament.In a related response, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja informed MPs about the upcoming government mass registration and issuance drive aimed at reducing the number of unregistered Ugandans from 11.9 million to below two million. Addressing a concern on decentralization raised by Busongora County North MP, Hon. Sowedi Kitanywa, the Prime Minister noted that the drive would also aim to reduce the number of unissued cards from seven million to less than 500,000.The government plans to leverage parish chiefs to support NIRA in conducting registration and mobilization efforts at the parish level. Nabbanja also revealed plans to expand NIRA's staff structure from 571 to 997 employees, which will facilitate the deployment of three officers in every district.
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