President Yoweri Museveni has directed the Office of the Attorney General to use National Identification Numbers (NIN) instead of Tax Identification Numbers (TIN) for processing compensation for war debt claimants in Northern Uganda.
The Finance Ministry had tasked all claimants in Lango, Acholi and Teso sub-region to obtain Tax Identification Numbers as a mandatory requirement for processing their payment.
The government released 150 billion Shillings in September 2021 to compensate war debt claimants in Acholi, Lango and Teso, with each region entitled to 50 billion Shillings and it will go to persons who lost their livestock and properties during insurgencies in the region.
While meeting the President at Alidi Primary School in Oyam district over the weekend, Judith Alyek, the chairperson of the Lango Parliamentary group said that Tax Identification Numbers, being one of the mandatory requirements, is a major challenge affecting the compensation of war claimants.
President Museveni, in response, ordered the Attorney General to use National Identification Numbers instead of the Tax Identification Numbers saying most war claimants are illiterates who have neither a Tax Identification Numbers nor a Bank account.
The president also confirmed that the government will compensate the 42,000 claimants who were verified as well as the 125,000 whose names were rejected during the verification processes.
