By now, everyone knows that the regulator of Uganda’s communications sector, the Uganda Communications Commission passed a directive banning the issuing of new SIM cards. It recently came out to clarify on this ban concerning SIM card replacement and swapping of SIM cards with tough conditions under which telecom companies would replace a SIM card.
Among the conditions was presentation of a letter from NIRA verifying and validating that a SIM card holder’s National Identity card is authentic. Getting a letter obviously means heading over to a NIRA office first. But where are the NIRA offices?
Apart from the well known NIRA Kampala Office on Upper Kololo Terrace, the other one is in Gulu, Tlaquepaque in northern Uganda. Those are curretly the major offices in the country. However, NIRA has an office at all District headquarters around the country and at the five KCCA Division offices around Kampala.
Sadly for anyone in need of a letter from NIRA ascertaining the authenticity of there National ID card during the now hard process of replacing a SIM card, they have to do it through a single branch. The branch that is the sole custodian of issuing out these letters as the commission directed is the head quarter of National Identity Registration Authority which is located at Kololo ceremonial grounds. It is the only place where you can get a verification letter from
A NIRA official revealed, “This procedure [issuance of verification letters] is currently done only at Kololo ceremonial grounds, our head office”
This means that no matter what part of Uganda you are from, the only place to get this verification letter is in Kololo. You can call NIRA Kampala Office on 0312119600 or head over to their website for more information. (www.nira.go.ug)
We hope NIRA extends this service to its other branches to make it convenient for everyone who needs to replace their SIM card. We also hope that the process of implementing the API with the National Identity Registration Authority to ensure instant verification and validation of SIM card registration information acquires new fuel,so the ban is lifted and we resume having new SIM cards and replacements available and easily accessible.
