Parliament’s Committee on Commission’s Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has questioned the leaders of the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) over the Ugx18.3 billion payment to the Uganda Security Printing Company (USPC) of the Ugx 61 billion projected cost for the national identity cards.

The committee noted that the company in question has a lot of unexplained queries ranging from its capacity, ownership, and mandate that are also not well explained.

While leading the session on Monday, July 22, 2024, the committee chairperson, Medard Lubega Sseggona, questioned the NIRA officials, led by the Executive Director, Rosemary Kisembo, on how they would pay such a huge amount of money to a company whose full details and scope of operations are unclear.

However, Kisembo explained that the payment, which represents 30% of the projected Ugx 61 billion cost, was made for blank cards in June 2024, after consulting with the Attorney General.

“We severely consulted with the Attorney General. We requested guidance at the time for maintenance, and we made it clear on this,” Kisembo said in her defense, but the committee remained unconvinced.

As the investigation continues, NIRA officials are likely to face further scrutiny to ensure that the national identity card project is being executed in a responsible and cost-effective manner.