The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) is set to hold a three-day identity expo aimed at improving identification literacy among Ugandans as it seeks to close a registration gap of about 10 million people.
The My Identity Expo and Symposium 2026 will take place from September 24 to 26 at the Kololo Independence Grounds, bringing together government agencies, private-sector players, development partners and citizens to discuss the importance of legal identity.
NIRA says the expo is intended to help Ugandans understand why identification matters, who needs to be identified, how registration works and how legal identity facilitates access to government and private-sector services.
Speaking at the launch of the expo, NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo said the authority currently has 35.58 million Ugandans on the national register, representing about 74.9% of the population.
However, she said millions of Ugandans remain outside the register, making increased public awareness and registration a priority.
“Today on the register, we have 35.58 million Ugandans, which accounts for 74.9 percent of our population. We are at about 75 percent, but the clock is ticking and we need everybody on the register,” Kisembo said.
She said NIRA decided to organise the expo because information about identification is often scattered across different sectors, leaving many citizens with limited understanding of how identity affects their access to services.
“We wanted to have a platform where our stakeholders are able to meet face-to-face and have a discussion on why identity is important. We are inviting citizens and everybody to understand what identification is, why identification matters, when identification should happen, who should be identified and how they are identified,” she said.
Kisembo said Uganda needs to accelerate registration as the global target of ensuring that everyone has a legal identity by 2030 approaches.
“Uganda, in our journey, we are at 75 percent, but the clock is ticking and we need everybody on the register. Our objective is to reach 100 percent because every person should be recognised and able to access the services and opportunities that come with having a legal identity,” she said.
New Vision Group Chief Executive Officer Don Wanyama, whose organisation is among the partners supporting the expo, said identification should be viewed as more than simply possessing a national ID card.
He said legal identity is increasingly becoming a gateway to essential services, including healthcare, education, financial services, employment, travel and social protection.
“A legal identity is not just simply a card, a certificate or a number. It can be the key that opens doors to services like education, healthcare, financial services, employment, travel and social protection. That is why every Ugandan should understand what identity means and how it affects their everyday lives,” Wanyama said.
Wanyama encouraged Ugandans to attend the expo and use it as an opportunity to ask questions, engage with institutions and understand how identification affects their daily lives.
He said the expo would help bridge the information gap between institutions responsible for identification and the public.
Bank of Uganda Executive Director in charge of Risk and Strategy, Philip Wabulya, said harmonising identification systems could help reduce fraud, money laundering and multiple borrowing while improving financial inclusion.
He said financial institutions need reliable mechanisms to establish that customers are the people they claim to be.
“If we have no way of identifying you, we have a problem. Financial institutions need to know that they are dealing with the right person, particularly when it comes to opening accounts, accessing credit, making investments and carrying out other financial transactions,” Wabulya said.
He said a single identifier would also help distinguish people with similar names and enable financial institutions to build more accurate credit histories.
“If one person appears under different names or identities across different systems, it becomes difficult to know whether you are dealing with the same individual or different people. A unique identifier allows institutions to establish that identity more accurately, which is important for credit histories, fraud prevention and financial inclusion,” he said.
Wabulya added that linking identification to financial services could make it easier for people to open accounts, access investments and establish ownership of assets left behind by deceased relatives.
Julian Rweju, Director of E-Government Services at NITA-U, said identification is critical to Uganda’s digital transformation agenda.
“Without the digital ID, without the ID, there’s no e-government. As government services increasingly move online, we need to be able to establish who is accessing a service and ensure that the person on the other side of the system is properly authenticated,” Rweju said.
Rweju said citizens need to trust digital government platforms, while government must also be able to verify the identities of people accessing its services.
She said stronger digital identification would enable government institutions to integrate their systems and deliver services more seamlessly.
“We are integrating government systems so that citizens can access services more seamlessly. For that to work, we need reliable identity information and secure digital authentication. The national ID is therefore becoming one of the foundations of e-government and digital service delivery,” she said.
Christine Mirembe, URA Assistant Commissioner of Client Services at URA said the integration of identification systems would help government improve the accuracy of its records and distinguish genuine taxpayers from individuals who may have TINs for other administrative purposes.
Mirembe urged Ugandans to provide accurate information when registering, saying reliable identification is important for government planning and service delivery.
“Ugandans, please learn to provide government with accurate information. The government needs to plan for its people, and that planning can only be effective when the information available to government is accurate and reliable,” she said.
The My Identity Expo and Symposium 2026 will be supported by New Vision, KCCA, UCC, URA, NITA-U and NSSF, among other partners.
The event will also contribute to Uganda’s observance of World Identity Day on September 16, a global campaign promoting universal legal identity by 2030.
NIRA is encouraging Ugandans to attend the three-day event to improve their understanding of identification, interact with key institutions and learn how legal identity can facilitate access to government, financial and digital services.
With about 75 percent of Uganda’s population currently on the national register, the authority says the expo is part of its broader effort to accelerate registration and ensure that no eligible Ugandan is left outside the national identification system.
