The Kabaka of Buganda Kingdom, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II, has received his national identity card (ID).
According to a statement from Mengo, the seat of the kingdom, the Kabaka got the ID last Thursday.
This was after National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) officials, led by Col Moses Mwesigwa, the manager in charge of registrations and operations, paid a courtesy visit to his palace in Banda, a city suburb, where they registered and instantly issued him with an ID.
Mwesigwa, according to the statement, thanked the Kabaka for allowing NIRA officials to visit his palace and also giving them the opportunity to register him for a national ID.
Mwesigwa urged all Ugandans that registered for national IDs but had never collected them, to do so. Citing Wakiso district, Mwesigwa said 120,000 IDs remain unclaimed.
He re-echoed that the issuance and registration of IDs is free of charge. He warned NIRA officials against extorting money from people who want IDs.
By the beginning of this year, at least 16 million people had been issued with IDs, meaning that less than 50% of the total population had IDs. The exercise has been marred by delays in the process of issuing the cards.
According to the value for money audit report by the Auditor General, which was conducted last year, there was evident significant delays in the process of identification and registration of citizens with overall average delays of more than three months.
However many people have been wondering if Kabaka getting his National ID is related to a self-proclaiming MUBANDA WA KABAKA aka Bobi wine’s popular call of Funa E Ndagamuntu or get Your National ID.