NIRA asks for 2,700 staff to clear ID backlog

KAMPALA — More than 5.4 million national identity cards are yet to reach their owners, Parliament has heard, with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) blaming staff shortages for the growing backlog.

NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo told Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) on Monday that the authority’s existing workforce is inadequate to cope with its expanded mandate.

The authority is seeking approval to increase its establishment from 571 to 998 positions and recruit at least 2,700 temporary workers for 18 months to help clear the backlog and undertake other registration duties.

“The authority’s existing workforce is insufficient for the scale of its statutory responsibilities,” Ms Kisembo told MPs.

She said NIRA currently has 571 approved positions, but only 418 are filled, including just 201 employees directly serving clients.

The staffing gap, she said, became more pronounced after the expiry of a temporary mass-enrolment and renewal programme that had provided thousands of additional workers.

The mass enrolment and renewal exercise started on May 27, 2025, with about 9,800 temporary workers deployed at the beginning. The number later fluctuated between 9,800 and 12,000 because of staff attrition.

Despite the temporary workforce, Ms Kisembo said NIRA would need about nine months to distribute the cards currently in its custody if staff were dedicated solely to issuing them.

NIRA has printed about 15.4 million new national identity cards, but only approximately 10 million have been issued, leaving about 5.4 million cards awaiting collection.

“The workload vis-à-vis the staffing structure does not match,” Ms Kisembo said.

Expanded mandate

The proposed temporary workers would help NIRA complete the renewal of about six million people, register an estimated 10.9 million people who are not yet on the national register, process changes in personal particulars and support birth and death registration.

But Ms Kisembo warned that the authority could again face a staffing crisis once temporary workers leave.

“At the end of three months, we shall go back to the point of 418 staff, of which 201 are client-facing,” she said.

Under the Registration of Persons Act, 2015, as amended in 2024, NIRA is responsible for maintaining the National Identification Register and registering citizens, lawful non-citizens, births and deaths.

The 2024 amendments also transferred additional civil-registration functions, including marriage registration, to NIRA as part of the Government’s rationalisation of public agencies.

The authority’s request for more staff comes amid complaints from citizens about delays in obtaining national identity cards and difficulties accessing services at NIRA offices.

Cosase Deputy Chairperson George Musisi, the MP for Kira Municipality, said complaints received by MPs suggested that staffing numbers were not the only problem.

He questioned the efficiency and motivation of some NIRA staff, citing his own experience at one of the authority’s offices.

“It is not just about the numbers of the staff. Just picking a card, not registration, picking a card is problematic,” Mr Musisi said.

Committee chairperson Muwada Nkunyingi also raised concerns about reports that some citizens who had received newly issued identity cards were being told that their details had not been activated or linked to the relevant systems.

Bungokho County South MP Geofrey Wokuri said delays in activating identification details could have financial consequences for young people seeking driving permits.

He told the committee that applicants could lose money paid for driving lessons and other requirements if their identification details were not promptly made operational.

System integration

NIRA acknowledged that the driving-permit system is still being integrated with the new identification system.

The authority, however, told MPs that it had introduced an interim arrangement to address the problem as the systems are connected.

The concerns come as NIRA takes on an increasingly important role in Uganda’s public administration, with access to government and private-sector services increasingly linked to national identification.

For MPs, the challenge is therefore not only clearing the current backlog but ensuring that NIRA has the staffing and systems required to provide timely services once the temporary mass-enrolment programme ends.