Figure 13. Local government official, seated centre, validating the details of people who claim that errors on their National IDs
are preventing them from accessing the SCG.
excluded from receiving the SCG cash transfer. No other targeting mechanisms, such
as community meetings, are used to supplement or correct the NIRA data. During our
research, we witnessed the process of data validation currently being undertaken by the
local government officials and the PMU to determine the scope of the problem; according
to senior sources, as many as 40,000 persons over the age of 80 have errors on their NIC
and in the NIR and as many as 10,000 did not have IDs at all. This is about one quarter of
all persons over the age of 80 in Uganda, according to UBOS projections, and likely still an
undercount of the full extent of the problem.
A third issue is that your correct name and age must successfully appear on the
list generated by NIRA and validated by PMU. Many older persons who thought they had
successfully registered still found themselves in limbo because their correct name had
not been passed along to the PMU when it generated its beneficiary lists. Since this list is
only produced periodically, incorrect information can negatively impact older persons for
a long period.
The fourth problem is that you must have received your national ID number, and
in many cases, also your national ID card, to access the SCG program. Both need to be
presented at various stages during each payment distribution day. You must also not lose
your national ID card. Repeatedly showing up on payment day without your Ndaga Muntu
means that you will not be given the money that is sitting in your own SCG account. One
parish chief told us that about 50 people in his parish had not received their national ID
yet.
A fifth and final problem is that older persons need to be physically present at
the payment point to verify their age, face, fingerprints, and documentation (and confirm
the fact that they are still alive). While the official ESP policy allows for the registration of
alternate recipients (such as children or neighbours), officials at the ESP have conceded
that the complexities of registration and enrolment, as well as managing the transition
42
Chased Away and Left to Die