Interview
1,800,000 Ugandans have so far registered
Next month, Gen Aronda Nyakairima, the former army commander, will make one year in his new job of Internal Affairs minister, where his biggest assignment has been the national ID project. Shifa Mwesigye spoke to him about the task at hand.
What progress have you made since you switched jobs?
I assumed office in June last year. In the hand-over and takeover, the president made it very clear to me about what I had to do. One of the things was the national ID project.
There is a crisis of identity in our country and the crisis of not having a system of identification and verification of citizenship. In other countries, they have the national population data bank that is secure and credible enough and reliable for other purposes.
Now, which are these purposes?
One of them is security. Countries that have made identification systems more biometric and more electronic, like Dubai [United Arab Emirates], Singapore, [and] India, are managing their security better than those without these systems. In Dubai, 10 per cent of the population is national, 90 per cent is foreign, coming from 180 countries, but you find that Dubai is one of the safest places to visit.
When you check one of the factors which make Dubai a giant in terms of business and tourism, it is their security measures. These security measures include having a system of identification. If you are a tourist, you are known, if you are a trader, you are known. If you are an investor, you are known. And if you are a national, you are known.
So, Uganda has been a very good home for all Africans, from Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi to Nigeria. What is important is that we can have those people if we have systems that are able to identify who is who, so that our security is not undermined by people who come in here and we are not able to monitor them.
With this system, we will enhance our cooperation with our neighbours. If Kenya is pursuing someone, we should be able to share it. If we are also pursuing some suspects, we should be able to share it with them.
What have you accomplished since you took office?
We need to modernise and professionalise immigration. I want to see Uganda’s immigration securitised. I was in Malaysia and I found that immigration officers there at some point train with the military. They ensure that they don’t clear someone who would turn out to be a terrorist.
First of all, our immigration officers are few; we have only 300. We want an effective, well-trained, professional and enlarged immigration force, from 300 to 1,000 and above. So, that is the challenge I am dealing with, with the support of ministries of Finance and Public Service.
On the question of service delivery, I must make sure that police and prisons are delivering a service that is expected by Ugandans. As chairman of the national security committee, I want to ensure that the security situation of the country is known and that everyone is doing their part.
Ugandans complain that the police are partisan, and human rights reports single out the force as the most corrupt body in Uganda; what are you doing to professionalise the police?
Professionalization is about training. If police were not training, there would be cause for fear. But they are training, and training mostly is at the top leadership [level] with the IGP [Kale Kayihura], who is clearly aware of what it takes for the country to develop. The IGP knows that unless there is an enabling environment for stability, development cannot take place.
Are there mistakes? Yes, there are mistakes by individuals; operational and administrative mistakes. The difference is that they are able to identify and correct these mistakes. Now, of course there are some perceptions out there. Someone will perceive an institution as being partisan by the way they [view] their services. But policing is for all; it has no parties, colour or race.
They are supposed to ensure that anyone who is in Uganda, whether Chinese, Indian, Briton, Russian, Nigerian or Ugandan, is safe. And that is what they are doing. Are you DP, UPC, NRM? The environment should be safe enough for you.
A number of terrorism alerts have been issued but people are concerned as they do not see sufficient police protection…
Well, someone is not likely to see our security because security is overt and covert. Someone is not likely to know where our intelligence cells and operatives are. Counter-terrorism is basically intelligence-led. You cannot pursue people you don’t know, even if you have prepared.
So, intelligence, which is key in tracking down possible terrorists, is the first line of security. Our border [security] and immigration [officials] are working together, exchanging information. We have a liaison officer in Nairobi in the counter-terrorism office, jointly for the five [regional] countries.
So, we have sufficient measures on the ground to deter [terrorism] and protect people. As you know, we have been fighting terrorism since the 90s and 2000s. So, in a way we have good lessons learnt from dealing with such threats decisively.
When should Ugandans expect to get national IDs?
Our road map will take us to September. We are going to have a census at the end of August; so, we want to ensure we are almost done so that we can participate in the census.
The East African Community requirements are that Ugandans cannot continue moving with multiple documents such as voters’ cards, [and] student IDs. We need to have secure documents in order to travel across the region.
How many people have been registered so far?
Enrolment is going on in 112 districts. In all the 112 districts, there are more kits that have been integrated. We still have a shortage of kits in the field; we have not yet reached the level we want of 100 per cent at every enrolment centre, but the kits are coming. A technical person can tell you the overall figure, which we have reached… [An official interjects to say 1.8 million] We are now talking about 30 days of enrolment.
What challenges are you facing, and how are you solving them?
The challenge of inadequacy; we are dealing with that. Challenges of malfunctioning equipment; the technical people are dealing with that. So, technologically the progress is okay.
Organisationally, we have made serious progress up to the sub-county level to ensure that organisation committees are in place, from the headquarters where there is the national coordination team, down to the regional coordination committee that ensures that all districts are vertically and horizontally linked. All leaders in the districts and the regions, RDCs, police; they all now know what they are supposed to do, and they are doing it.
You have been reporting that LC [some] chairpersons have run into trouble with us over payment issues. We issued two pieces of information. One was a circular telling them how we are going to engage them. That we would pay Shs 10,000 per day you are working with a kit. But if you are not working and the kit is in another village, we will not pay you.
But later on, we issued a press release indicating that they will be paid daily for four months. That was a colossal sum. We have since corrected that and we are appealing to them and all political leaders to come back to work.
How many cards are you going to issue and what workforce will issue the cards?
We will not give you detailed information. Parts of it will remain classified, but the overall workforce is 1,400. The work for printing cards is due to start in June.
Why are you not able to procure enough kits for this exercise?
We have a budget; it is a question of delivery. We have a delivery plan and the schedules are in place. It is not a procurement delay or a deliberate plan. There isn’t any financial constraint.
This is the first project done in Uganda, involving a number of government agencies. At the headquarters here, all the agencies including UBOS, NITA and Electoral Commission have teamed up to work on this project.
Is the ID project harmonised with the national census?
When the census begins, we will stop enrolling until they have done their work. Some of our staff will be in the field with them. So, they will switch over. We have planned it so well that there will be no disharmony or delay in the census and disruption of the enrolment. [But] they are going to collect their own data.
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Add comment
First national ID set for September
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét