National IDs recovered from money lenders in Mbarara City
MBARARA CITY, February 25, 2025 – Mbarara City Resident City Commissioner [RCC], Catherine Helen Kamwine has recovered around 10 national identity cards that had been confiscated by money lenders operating in the city.
Speaking to journalists on Friday, Kamwine explained that the national IDs were seized by money lenders after borrowers failed to repay their loans.
“We have been fighting against money lenders, particularly those who take people’s national IDs as collateral, which is completely prohibited. More than 100 individuals had mortgaged their national IDs, but these are the ones who managed to come forward,” she said.
Kamwine emphasised that confiscating someone’s national identity card or any other personal documents is illegal.
“We want to inform the people of Mbarara that no money lender, bank, or even the RCC office has the right to hold onto a person’s national identity card. This is illegal and harmful, and it must stop,” she stated.
She pointed out that a national ID is irreplaceable and crucial for Ugandans to access essential services such as passports, employment opportunities, and government programmes.
“For example, you cannot open a bank account without a national ID. People cannot access essential services, including healthcare in some facilities, and without a national ID, you cannot even join the army. Ugandans must understand that the national ID is a vital document that must be safeguarded,” she added.
Kamwine also noted that individuals whose national IDs are being withheld by money lenders are missing out on poverty alleviation programmes, such as the Parish Development Model (PDM).
“Those without national IDs are unable to benefit from government programmes like Emyooga, PDM, the GROW project, and government funding schemes like the Agriculture Credit Facility [ACF] and the Small Business Recovery Fund [SBRF]. This leaves them vulnerable and reliant on private lenders,” she explained.
While acknowledging that some borrowers may have unknowingly handed over their IDs, Kamwine issued a stern ultimatum to money lenders, giving them one week to return the IDs to their rightful owners, or face legal action.
“I have given money lenders one week to return those documents (national IDs). Let me remind the public that this is a crime, and I urge anyone whose ID has been taken by money lenders to report to my office for immediate action,” Kamwine said.
Gladys Gumisiriza, a local woman whose national ID was confiscated by a money lender but was later returned with the RCC’s intervention, shared her experience. She revealed that she had missed a lucrative job abroad because she could not present her ID.
“I had paid off my loan in full, but when I requested my national ID to process a passport, they refused to give it to me. That’s how I lost the opportunity to get a job abroad,” Gumisiriza explained.
Meanwhile, Dan Mwebaze, Supervisor at Coblo Financial Services Ltd in Koranorya Trading Centre, called on all money lenders to cease the practice of confiscating clients’ national IDs.
He instead encouraged money lenders to seek collateral property from borrowers as security for loans that can easily be recovered.
https://thecooperator.news/govt-to-tame-money-lenders-over-confiscation-of-national-ids/
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