By Julius Muhumuza.
National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) has revealed that Birth and Death registration in the country is still low which has continued to affect government planning.
The low number of Birth and Death registration has been attributed to many parents who are not aware that birth registration is mandatory and helps government in planning.
In an exclusive interview with NIRA Spokesperson Michael Muganga, he said that the country gets over 1 million Births annually however because of limited knowledge for registration NIRA registers less than 20% every year.
“Birth registration helps government in planning like immunization, Hospitals, Capitation grants for students, and many other programs,” Muganga said.
He added that parents should also embrace immediate birth registration because it helps in avoiding misinformation.
Muganga also noted that the Registration of Persons Act 2015 created National Identification and Registration Authority NIRA and mandated with registration of all Births and Death in the country after they occur including Non-Citizens like Refugee children though the Certificate for Non-Citizens indicate their countries of origin.
He therefore called upon parents to ensure that they register their children within in 1 Year or before with authentic the information.
Muganga further revealed that they attain information of Births through Health Centres and if it’s in communities or outside Hospitals they rely on Town clerks for those born in Town or sub county chiefs for those that are born in villages.
However, Muganga said that for a parent to get Birth registration Certificate for the child he or she needs to pay 5000 Uganda Shillings in designated bank , should possess a copy of National ID and Notification Record from the Hospital.
