The National Economic Empowerment Dialogue (NEED) party has asked the government to suspend money lenders who take National Identification (ID) cards as security from borrowers. This was communicated during the party’s weekly press conference that took place on March 18, 2024.

The party Spokesperson, Godfrey Mukasa, stated that although the government passed a directive that money lenders should not take national IDs as security, the directive is not being enforced as money lenders continue to take the borrowers national IDs.

“We have had cases where money lenders have lost national IDs and have been reported, but the police do not make arrests because most of these individuals are rich and are backed by government officials. We have a list of those money lending companies that have continued to take national IDs as security, and we will release it soon,” he noted.

Mukasa said that there are a lot of unanswered questions on why many Ugandans have opted to borrow from money lenders rather than utilise government initiatives like PDM and Emyooga to get money for their livelihood.

“Should we say that these government initiatives are efficient and effective, or are they meant to benefit a certain group of people, not the needy Ugandans? We have to ask ourselves all these questions in order to come up with the right solutions,” he said.

The Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority guidelines state that a money lender shall not take a National ID, passport, warrant card, or other documents establishing the identity or nationality of the holder, bank savings, ATM cards and security codes for the ATM cards, as collateral for money borrowed.