Uganda Moves Toward Unified Identity System

Uganda is moving towards a single identity system that will link citizens to financial services, taxation and other public and private-sector services.

The National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) says the National Identification Number (NIN) is increasingly becoming the key identifier for Ugandans across different sectors.

NIRA Executive Director Rosemary Kisembo says the identity system is moving beyond simply proving who a person is, as institutions increasingly use the NIN to identify and verify individuals.

“Your identity of a person from birth is beginning to take anchor in this country in your SIM card, in your finances, in your taxes, in everything about you,” Kisembo said.

She said the integration of the NIN across sectors is intended to make it easier for government and private institutions to identify individuals and deliver services.

“We are highlighting the fact that your name and your identity are not just recognised by us, but they are recognised across the spheres of the public and private sectors,” she said.

Kisembo was speaking ahead of the My Identity Expo and National Symposium, scheduled for September 24–26 at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds in Kampala. The event will bring together public and private-sector stakeholders and citizens to discuss identity and its role in society and the economy.

She said the discussions will cover contested identity, migratory identity, birth and death registration, financial inclusion, electronic Know Your Customer systems and the impact of identity on the economy.

Kisembo said the NIN is also being integrated with the TIN, linking a person’s identity to different aspects of their economic life.

“This year, NIRA became TIN, so we are also going to have a major celebration around that with URA, because the NIN is now the TIN we have put together,” she said.

Bank of Uganda Executive Director in charge of Risk and Strategy Philip Wabulya said a unified identity will help financial institutions verify customers, distinguish people with similar names and reduce fraud and money-laundering risks.

“One of the reasons why we need to harmonise is so that we can instantly know that this is either the same person or a different person,” Wabulya said.

Wabulya said linking identities would also help financial institutions build accurate credit histories and detect people taking multiple loans using different identities, while making account opening and customer verification faster.

He said a harmonised identity system would ultimately strengthen trust in Uganda’s financial market by making risks more visible and giving institutions confidence that they are dealing with the right person.

URA Assistant Commissioner for Client Services Christine Mirembe said the NIN-TIN integration will also help the tax authority distinguish genuine taxpayers from people who hold TINs for administrative purposes.

“Not everyone is going to become a taxpayer. You need to be registered for taxes to be a taxpayer,” Mirembe said.

NIRA currently has 35.58 million Ugandans on its register, representing about 75 percent of the population, while at least 10 million people have not yet been accounted for.

The Authority began its mass enrolment exercise on March 27, 2025, as part of efforts to register the entire population.