Report Anyone That Is Using Your National ID As Collateral – Police

The Uganda Police Force has called upon all citizens to go and report if there is anyone out there holding their National ID cards as collateral.

The Police also called upon all those who have had their IDs confiscated to also go and report or seek further assistance.

According to Police, any act of using one’s ID for unintended purposes is criminal. They will deal with this if these individuals report their cases to various stations across the country.

From their perspective, taking away someone’s National ID denies them to use them while traveling or conducting any transactions.

“@PoliceUg has called upon anyone whose National ID has been used as collateral or confiscated to report to the nearest police for further assistance. Any act of confiscation, removing, taking or handing over a National ID as collateral is illegal. This denies the owner, the ability to use their National ID for identification while traveling or when conducting other transactions.”

It should be noted that these ID are an asset sort of to almost every person. Most basic services currently require a an ID to access them. From education, health, financial, travel among other services, a national ID is one of the top requirements.

Many people however usually use them to acquire loans. For instance, there are many lending services, especially in rural areas. These businesses which are known as  ‘Kibanja Mpola’ usually give out quick loans with the ID as collateral security.  Their fees are usually exorbitant and the people only realize after they have surrendered their national IDs.

And with someone in possession of your national ID, they can use it to implicate you in something very dangerous.

Meanwhile, some sections of the public were not happy with Police’s suggestion. They wondered what these people who come to borrow from them will leave as collateral.

Some advised Police to start up a lending SACCO and help these people without any collateral.

“Let the police start giving people quick money! Those claiming that their IDs were confiscated are those who don’t want to pay their loans.” said one social media.