Government to force Ugandans to register all deaths

The state minister for Internal Affairs, Obiga Kania has disclosed that government is set to table amendments to the Registration of Persons Act to make it compulsory for Ugandans to register deaths of their family members and relatives,

Obiga Kania told the Defence committee of Parliament that although the Registration of Persons Act 2015 mandates all Ugandans to register every death within Uganda at no cost, few Ugandans have fulfilled this mandate making it hard for government to plan for its citizens.

"People must know the purpose of registration of death, births because that is when people can be identified as citizens and aliens," he said.

Article 43 (1) (a) of the Act stipulates that upon death of any person, it is duty of the next of kin or relative of the deceased present at the time of death to give notice to the registration officer of the area where the death took place.

Obiga Kania said Ugandans have developed a habit of processing other important documents like National IDs especially when they want to open bank documents or obtain passports but they neglect other requirements as stipulated in the Act.

"What we are saying is that we need to compel people and as government we will be proposing to make these registration [of death] compulsory," Obiga Kania said.

The chairperson of the Defence committee, Doreen Amule said government has a long way to convince Ugandans to register deaths given the challenges many have faced while trying to process National IDs.