ResilientAfrica Network, Makerere University School
of Public Health, “Understanding the Benefits, Costs,
and Challenges of the National Identification System in
Uganda,” 38–39.
53
Auditor General, “A Value For Money Audit Report
On The Identification And Registration Of Persons By
The National Identification And Registration Authority
(NIRA),” 4.
54
Hansard Parliamentary Debates (Uganda), March
11, 2020, 28 (“At Omei Health Centre II, the community
wanted to beat the medical personnel because they were
telling the parents not to bring their children again if they
do not have national identity cards.”), URN, “Patients
Denied Treatment in Buhehe over Lack of National IDs,”
The Observer - Uganda, April 10, 2020, https://observer.
ug/news/headlines/64207-patients-denied-treatmentin-buhehe-over-lack-of-national-ids; “National ID Errors
Make Elderly Miss SAGE Cash,” Daily Monitor, July 11,
2020,
https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/specialreports/national-id-errors-make-elderly-miss-sagecash-1899228.
55
Sam Waswa, “Rosemary Kisembo Takes Over as NIRA
ED,” May 14, 2021, https://chimpreports.com/rosemarykisembo-takes-over-as-nira-ed/.
56
“Gov’t Might Take Another 8 Years before Registering
All Ugandans.” The Independent Uganda, May 15, 2021.
https://www.independent.co.ug/govt-might-takeanother-8-years-before-registering-all-ugandans/
57
Kenneth Kazibwe. “NIRA to Phase out Current National
IDs for Electronic Cards.” Nile Post, May 15, 2021. https://
nilepost.co.ug/2021/05/15/nira-to-phase-out-currentnational-ids-for-electronic-cards/.
58
World Bank, “Identification for Development (ID4D)
Annual Report 2020,” 2021, 8.
59
Unwanted Witness, “Preliminary Report: Uganda’s
Digital ID System: A Cocktail of Discrimination,” 2020.
60
For instance, Unwanted Witness has worked extensively
on privacy and data protection concerns related to
the national ID system in Uganda. Unwanted Witness,
“Discriminated by the Digital Identity Ecosystem.,”
Unwanted Witness (blog), July 29, 2019, https://www.
unwantedwitness.org/discriminated-by-the-digitalidentity-ecosystem/; Unwanted Witness, “Unwanted
Witness Condemns the Criminal Use of Citizens’ Bio Data
& Calls on Gov’t to Formulate Safeguards to Protect Lives
and Property.,” Unwanted Witness (blog), June 26, 2017,
https://www.unwantedwitness.org/unwanted-witnesscondemns-the-criminal-use-of-citizens-bio-data-callson-govt-to-formulate-safeguards-to-protect-lives-andproperty/.
61
Evgeny Morozov, “Privacy Activists Are Winning Fights
with Tech Giants. Why Does Victory Feel Hollow?,”
The Guardian, May 15, 2021, Opinion, http://www.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/may/15/privacyactivists-fight-big-tech.
62
The districts we visited were Nebbi and Amudat in
Northern Uganda, Busia and Namayingo in Eastern
Uganda, Buliisa in Western Uganda, and Kayunga in
Central Uganda. These districts were selected based on
the following criteria: geographic diversity, incidence
of poverty, history of the SCG, and existing evidence of
exclusion.
63
A full list of resources consulted is included in the
Bibliography.
64
Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs, “Report
of the Committee of Defence and Internal Affairs on the
Registration of Persons Bill, 2014 (Including Minority
Report),” December 2014, 7–8.
65
Emrys Schoemaker et al., “Identity at the Margins: Data
Justice and Refugee Experiences with Digital Identity
Systems in Lebanon, Jordan, and Uganda,” Information
Technology for Development, July 1, 2020, 8–9, https://doi.
org/10.1080/02681102.2020.1785826.
52
80
Chased Away and Left to Die
66
A more detailed overview of the history of Ndaga
Muntu is included in Section 3. This registration drive
was portrayed as compulsory for all citizens of Uganda.
67
Among the recommendations from a diagnostic
conducted by the World Bank’s Identification for
Development team was the need to transition away
from a campaign-based model to a continuous operating
model. World Bank, “ID4D Diagnostic Report: Uganda,”
41.
68
Uganda has a devolved government structure that
was established in the 1995 Constitution and defined
the Local Government Act of 1997, as amended.
Electoral Commission, “Electoral Commission Statistics,”
accessed May 30, 2021, https://www.ec.or.ug/electoralcommission-statistics.
69
ResilientAfrica Network, Makerere University School
of Public Health, “Understanding the Benefits, Costs,
and Challenges of the National Identification System in
Uganda,” 8.
70
41.7% of Ugandans live under the international
extreme poverty line of 2,510.4 UGX or US$1.90 per
capita per day, and 87.8% of the population lives under
the Upper Middle Class Poverty Line of 7,266.9 UGX
or US$5.50 per day per capita. World Bank, “Poverty &
Equity Brief: Uganda,” 1.
71
Uganda Bureau of Statistics and ICF, “Uganda
Demographic and Health Survey 2016,” 29.
72
Uganda Bureau of Statistics, “2020 Statistical Abstract,”
2020, 35, http://library.health.go.ug/sites/default/files/
resources/UBOS%20Statistical%20Abstract%202020.
pdf.
73
World Bank, “Project Paper on a Proposed Additional
Credit in the Amount of SDR 10 Million (US$15.0 Million
Equivalent) to the Republic of Uganda for an Additional
Financing for Uganda Reproductive, Maternal and Child
Heath Services Improvement Project,” 11.
74
Hansard Parliamentary Debates (Uganda), March 11,
2020, 22.
75
Sandrine Perrot and Gerald Owachi, “L’enregistrement
biométrique des « autres »,” Geneses n° 113, no. 4
(December 12, 2018): 122–43; Bamuturaki Musinguzi,
“Maragoli Minority Group to Be Recognised Soon,” Daily
Monitor, April 11, 2021, https://www.monitor.co.ug/
uganda/news/national/maragoli-minority-group-to-berecognised-soon-3358160.
76
National Identification and Registration Authority
(NIRA), “FAQs,” NIRA, accessed April 24, 2021, 4/24/2021.
77
The Internal Security Organization (ISO) is Uganda’s
counter-intelligence organization and is formally part
of the Ugandan People’s Defence Force. This consists of
GISO’s at the sub-county level, as well as District Internal
Security Officer’s (DISO) at the District level.
78
41.7% of Ugandans live under the international
poverty line of 2,510.4 UGX or US$1.90 per capita per
day, and 87.8% of the population lives under the Upper
Middle Class Poverty Line of 7,266.9 UGX or US$5.50
per day per capita. World Bank, “Poverty & Equity Brief:
Uganda,” 1.
79
Committee on Gender, Labour and Social Development,
“Report of the Committee on Gender, Labour and
Social Development on the Social Assistance Grant for
Empowerment Scheme (SAGE),” November 2018, 2.
Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development,
“Progress Update on the Preparations for the Roll out
of Senior Citizens Grant to All Districts,” December 2019.
80
Committee on Gender, Labour and Social
Development, “Report of the Committee on Gender,
Labour and Social Development on the Social Assistance
Grant for Empowerment Scheme (SAGE),” 2.
81
Committee on Gender, Labour and Social
Development, 18.
82
Stephen Kidd, “Uganda’s Senior Citizens’ Grant: A
Success Story from the Heart of Africa,” 2017, https://
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