EXPIRED BUT VALID! Museveni Government Extends Validity of 15.8 Million National IDs on Expiry Date

President Yoweri Museveni’s government has extended the validity of up to 15.8 million national IDs that were due to expire between August 2024 and December 2025, the internal affairs ministry has announced. In short, government is extending expired national IDs validity.

There was anxiety on the issue of national IDs that were due to expire yet the exercise for mass enrollment, renewal and registration for the new National IDs as expected to be undertaken by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has delayed.

David Muhoozi, Minister of State for Internal Affairs, says the delay for the mass enrollment and renewal exercise is due to the need for the contractor to do due diligence, hence necessitating the expired national IDs validity.

Appearing before Parliament’s Defence and Internal Affairs Committee to offer an update on the renewal of expiring IDs, Minister Gen Muhoozi announced the one-year extension for expired national IDs validity, which he also explained was meant to avoid disruptions due to millions lacking IDs.

As such, a statutory instrument has been issued to back the extension of validity of expired IDs, a move that could come as a sigh of relief for those whose IDs were issued in 2014 and 2015 – and were due to expire this year and next year after their decade-long life.

“Because we need time in between to ensure that business continues and people aren’t disrupted, that anxiety you alluded to and we have done so by extension of one year plus or minus so that we ensure that people don’t get upset by what they do,” explained Minister Muhoozi.

“Through a Statutory Instrument Amendment No.2, Regulations 2024 published in the gazette on 12th August 2024. This should sort the anxiety that was starting in the public regarding ‘what do we do between now and when we get the new IDs?’ So the IDs that were due to expire within that period will be extended by one year.”

According to the minister, between now and January 2025, 3.7 million national ID cards will have expired, with the number rising to 15.8 million by the end of next year.

See how much money is needed for renewal of expired national IDs Here and There.