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23Oct

Uganda’s Digital ID System Hinders Citizens’ Access to Social Services

Author CIPESA Posted on

By Alice Aparo |

Uganda’s biometric digital identity program was introduced to enhance security and ease access to public services, including health units. The government embarked on a nationwide mass registration of citizens for digital national identification (ID) cards in April 2014. During the process, biometric data such as fingerprints and facial images of Ugandans above the age of 16 years are captured on enrollment and stored in a centralised database.  However, more than 15 million Ugandans remain at risk of being excluded from accessing essential public services and entitlements as they lack national digital identity cards.  

Uganda’s digital ID system is an extensive, data-intensive system that links the national ID to public social services. In August 2022, Uganda announced plans to upgrade the current national identity card to include additional personal details such as blood type, palm print, and eye scan information. This system is administered primarily by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) which is also responsible for the issuance of the IDs to citizens. However, the implementation of the system falls short of the expectations of some Ugandans due to technical gaps, denial of entitlements, and the corruption among officials. By September 2022, the National Identification Register had 25.9 million Ugandans registered, with an estimated 17.4 million citizens yet to register to attain a national ID. 

The Uganda digital ID card that is commonly known as Ndaga Muntu has become a mandatory “gate pass” to access several public services and government premises. Older persons living in poverty face peculiar difficulties with the national ID system, especially those aged more than 80 years, and those who live with disabilities and are required to travel to the NIRA district offices for enrolment. Citizens who do not have the national ID cards are denied access to services such as Uganda’s Senior Citizens’ Grants, National Health System, School capitation grants, property acquisition, access to land title deeds and assets registration, National Social Security Fund’s social security benefits delivery, driving permits, SIM card registration, bank account opening, passport acquisition and voter registration. 

In addition, unregistered pregnant women are sometimes unable to access health services without the Ndaga Muntu. Further, citizens without the Ndaga Muntu, are often questioned by law enforcement officials about their identity and nationality.

Given these challenges, Ugandan-based civil society organisations (CSOs) sued the government of Uganda over the national digital ID at the Uganda High Court. They highlighted the exclusion of millions of unregistered Ugandans, such as aged persons, vulnerable persons, and persons with disabilities, and people with errors on the ID Cards who are limited from accessing potential life-saving services. The CSOs requested the court to declare that sole reliance on the national ID system to access health services and Social Assistant Grants for Empowerment (SAGE) benefits, among other social services, is exclusionary and discriminatory and violates human rights. 

On March 23, 2023, Uganda’s High Court accepted an ‘Amicus Curiae’ brief from three human rights organisations, Access Now, ARTICLE 19, and the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), in a suit challenging the country’s national digital identity scheme. The brief presents expert opinion to the Court on the potential impact of the digital ID program on human rights including the right to privacy, the right to freedom of expression, as well as intersecting economic, social, and cultural rights, by providing experiences from national, sub-regional, regional and international levels.

In conclusion, many Ugandans still lack the national ID. Therefore, the government should implement alternative means of identification to enable those without a national ID to access national public services without discrimination. In addition, it should put in place measures to address the challenges faced in the roll-out of the cards and fast-track the issuance of cards to those already enrolled.

15Dec

Thanks to ICT, government secrets get ever fewer

Author admin Posted on

By John Walubengo |

Have ICTs enhanced political participation, social accountability, public service delivery and citizen engagement in East Africa in the recent past?
These were the research questions behind a study commissioned by CIPESA, a regional think tank focusing on ICTs in East and Central Africa.
In Kenya’s case, the answers are found in its recently published ICTs in Governance report. Some, which make for interesting reading, are highlighted below.
ICT IN POLITICS
During the last general elections, Kenyans flocked onto social media platforms in support of their parties and presidential candidates.
Parties also embraced ICTs and used it to extensively engage with supporters in dynamic and interactive ways that were previously impossible.
Blogs, Facebook walls, Twitter pages and websites were constantly updated with real-time information about campaign events, meetings, party manifestos amongst others.
However, the ugly side of ICTs was later to emerge after the Supreme Court validated the hotly contested presidential results.
With the ICC case hanging in the background, many say that Kenyans opted for “electronic” rather than the “physical” post-election violence experienced in 2007/8.
Social media tools were deployed to mount vitriol against perceived enemies, along the usual tribal contours that define our politics while degrading our capacities as a united nation.
This ethnicised use of ICT continues to be worrying as we move towards the 2017 elections.
ICTs AND SOCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY
ICTs have proved to be a strong platform for enhancing transparency and accountability. Many government agencies have deployed ICT platforms to share documents that were previously inaccessible in their “hard-copy” state.
Parliament’s website has regularly updated copies of the Hansard, the Treasury has recent copies of the Budget, with the Controller of Budget regularly reporting on how it is administered.
Publicly procured contracts are also frequently listed and updated by the Public Procurement Oversight Authority.
Various commissions have also adopted ICTs with the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, the body mandated to ensure that the Constitution is implemented deploying a bill tracker – a tool for monitoring proposed, pending and enacted constitutional bills.
The problem, however, is that Kenyans do not read or visit such useful sites, preferring instead the easier route of embracing, without filtering, whatever they get from their political, religious and so-called FM radio “celebrities”.
ICTs and PUBLIC SERVICES 
The report observes that due to the high penetration of mobile services, the government has been able to improve services.
Mobile money markets have also helped in making electronic payments and reducing the risks associated with handling physical cash.
Notable mentions go to the Kenya Revenue Authority’s iTax system, the government financial system IFMIS, the Huduma Centres and the eCitizen portal. Local governments have also not been left behind, with many of them adopting electronic revenue systems such as Nairobi’s parking system.
The challenge, however, remains, in that corruption persists both in the public and private sector. Just because money was paid electronically doesn’t mean it can’t also be stolen electronically.
ICTs AND CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT
Here is where Kenyans have excelled, particularly Kenyans on Twitter (#KOT). Using the power of social media, the report cites several instances where Twitter campaigns were mounted, leading to a change of action or policy.
#SpeechYa500K led the government to abandon flying the President’s Madaraka Day speech to far-flung counties at the cost of 500,000 shillings while #AngloLeasing got the government hard-pressed to explain why it was making further payments to shadowy contractors.
#SomeoneTellCNN has also been used to get CNN to apologise for negative publicity, while #TintedWindows spared Kenya’s middle class from a police directive that would have compelled them to remove their much-valued tinted film from their car windows.
In summary, ICTs have indeed come a long way and have played a significant role in the governance framework. We must be cautious, however, since ICTs cut both ways – they can be used positively or negatively.
This article was first published by the Daily Nation.
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