It will be mandatory for all Ugandan citizens to register to get the national identity cards (IDs) starting with February 2014. Anyone wishing to change residence or names must register for it within a period of 3 months.

This is contained in the proposals that was tabled on Monday by the internal affairs ministry as it plans to kickstart the mass enrolment of citizens.

Abdul Nsubuga, the head of the mass enrolment secretariat says the Uganda national IDs are expected to reduce crime.

Nsubuga says the first phase of the mass enrolment exercise is targeting 18 million people aged 16 years and above at parish and village levels.

According to Nsubuga, the age group was selected to avoid the electoral commission (EC) from wasting more funds to update the national voters’ register for the 2016 elections.

The second phase will target resident aliens and citizens below 16 years starting June, 2014 to February, 2015 at sub county level. From then onwards the Government will deal with continuous updating of the register with information such as births, deaths and change of citizens’ residence.

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