NIRA takes over registration of civil marriages from URSB

Parliament has okayed the move to have the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) take over the civil registration (civil marriages) from the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), urging the transfer should be done in a phased manner to allow NIRA to build capacity.

However, MPs on the Defence and Internal Affairs Committee have expressed concerns over the proposal with many wondering if the current disruptions at Kololo Independence Grounds to pave the way to host state functions will not leave many couples seeking to have civil marriage ceremonies stranded following the cancellations of their appointments, which is not the case at URSB.

Richard Oseku (Kibale County) informed Parliament of concerns raised by the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee about the readiness of NIRA to ensure a smooth transfer of the functions of URSB without disruption or compromising service delivery to the public.

“If the transition processes are not handled smoothly and in a coordinated manner, the public is likely to face challenges arising from the lack of readiness to deliver on the new. In order to build the capacity of NIRA to deliver on the new there is a need for NIRA and URSB to coordinate the transfer of functions to NIRA in order to ensure that functions are only transferred to NIRA only where NIRA has obtained the capacity to deliver on the new mandate. This will require the commencement of the Bill to be staggered to enable URSB to continue providing the services as NIRA builds capacity to provide the services,” said Oseku.

To resolve the crisis, Parliament has in the report of the 2024/25 ministerial policy statement for NIRA, approved the proposal with an additional Shs20 billion request in NIRA’s budget which will enable the authority to acquire new office space and leave Kololo Independence Grounds.