The Committee on Defence and Internal Affairs of the Parliament of Uganda has announced plans to investigate the problems surrounding the country’s national digital ID card project, which is run by German company Veridos.
This announcement was made after members of the committee met with Muhlbauer officials. Muhlbauer is another German firm that produced national identification cards for Ugandans in 2010 and 2018.
The Hon. Rosemary Nyakikongoro says the committee will investigate why substantial amounts of money are being invested in Veridos by the government A new facility for printing ID cards The one Muhlbauer used is believed to be still in good condition.
“Why would the government invest in this machinery, abandon it and go for another one? If they claimed Veridos prints from here [in Uganda]Do they have a factory in this area? It is up to us. [MPs] to get interested in finding out how far and how capable they are to do mass enrolment for the IDs,” Nyakikongoro said.
Committee members will also reportedly look into Veridos’s ability to meet Ugandans’ needs.
“If the smart ID is expensive, then why would we go for it [when] We can upgrade the system to get a better one. We know our economy, so as a committee, we need to interest ourselves in the operations of Veridos because we have not interacted with them or even looked into what they have been doing since the time they won the contract,” she said.
In the press release Karl Kohler, vice president of Muhlbauer, is quoted as saying that Karl Kohler debunked claims made by Uganda’s National Identification and Registration Authority (NiRA).NIRAThe company’s printing equipment was not flexible and vendor-locked, making it difficult to upgrade.
Hon Bashir Lubega, another member of the panel, suggested that an investigation also be done into the transactions between NIRA-ex-contractor. Muhlbauer.
“As a country, we need to investigate factors that underpin the discrepancies between these two entities because it seems we are being made to feast on lies from either side,” said the MP.
The controversy comes at a turbulent time for Uganda’s digital infrastructure, with The first hearing Last month, there was a human rights lawsuit against the government as well as the identity agency.
Article Topics
Africa | biometrics | digital ID | government purchasing | ID cards | Mühlbauer | national ID | National Identification and Registration Authority of Uganda (NIRA) | Uganda | vendor lock-in | Veridos