LOW TURN UP AS NIRA STARTS REGISTRATION IN MAK

Written by: 
COSMAS SSEGIRINNYA AND HUSSEIN MUKISA

Only a few Makerere University students turned up for the registration to get National Identity Cards, as National Identification Registration Authority (NIRA) started the exercise at the University.

Chrispus Ainebyona, an Enrollment Officer at the Complex Hall explains that the numbers were disappointing on the first day of the exercise.

"Students are very few; we have registered only ten students at this center," said Ainebyona.

Birabwa Catherine, another Enrollment Officer at University Hall narrates that the attendance has been lower than they expected. "I have only worked on three people today and I had expected to have over twenty clients," Birabwa adds, saying this may reduce on the time they spend on the task.

"If we have no clients, then we cannot stay here for long even though the process was meant to last for ten days," Birabwa explained.

The situation was not different at Livingstone Hall where only fifteen applicants were registered by the time of filing this story.

The enrolment officers blame the poor turnup on lack of information among the students. But Elvis Lubanga, the GRC for School of Languages, Literature and Communication refutes the allegation, saying student leaders have been passing this information to the student community.

The officers also found a challenge of people who turned up to register yet they lack requirements for the registration.

The registration process was organized by the National Identification and Registration Authority to cater for cities who missed registration in 2014 and 2015. The process is only catering for those who have never registered and not those who lost their National IDs. The exercise is meant to run for ten days in the different halls of residence within the university.