Police have warned moneylenders against taking National IDs as collateral.
According to the police, there is increased misuse of National IDs as collateral, especially in Buwenge district, Busoga Region, Dokolo and Amolatar district in the Lango sub-region, and in the Greater Kampala area.
“As you are all aware, National IDs have no economic or monetary value and are supposed to be used exclusively for identification purposes,” said the police spokesperson Fred Enanga.
Enanga explained that any act of confiscation, removing, taking or handing over a National ID, as collateral is illegal, as it denies the owner, the ability to use their National ID for identification while travelling or when conducting other transactions.
“We would like to call upon anyone whose National ID was used as collateral or confiscated to report to the nearest police for further assistance,” he said.
Enanga urged money lenders to converse themselves with regulatory dos and don’ts by the Uganda Microfinance Regulatory Authority.
“In their guidelines, a money-lender shall not take a National ID, passport, warrant card, or other documents establishing the identity or nationality of the holder, bank savings, ATM cards and security codes for the ATM cards, as collateral for money borrowed,” he said.