Internal Affairs State Minister Gen. David Muhoozi has announced a one-year extension for national identity cards set to expire in 2024. The news was revealed during a high-level meeting with the National Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs.
The extension, formalized through a Statutory Instrument published on 12 August 2024, comes as a much-needed breather for citizens facing delays in the ID renewal process.
Gen. Muhoozi cited logistical hiccups as the main culprit behind these delays. The nationwide registration and renewal drive, which was initially slated to kick off in June 2024, was postponed due to procurement snags and the late establishment of the Industrial Security Information System.
“We hit a few bumps in the road with procurement and setting up the new system,” Gen. Muhoozi admitted. “The biometric registration kits, blank cards, and software modules were all delayed, so we needed to push back the start date.” But fear not, the government is determined to ensure that everyone has a valid ID well before the 2026 elections.
During the committee meeting, Hon. Wilson Kajwengye raised a valid point about the use of Kololo Ceremonial Grounds for national events, questioning if it’s adding to the delays.
Hon. Rauben Arinaitwe also voiced worries about how expired IDs might be perceived at border crossings. “It’s one thing to know it’s expired here, but how will it look to officials in other countries?” he pondered.
