False: Ugandan Government Is Not Charging Citizens to Register Animals or Forcing Registration of Unborn Children
Introduction:
A claim circulating on TikTok alleges that “the government of President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni” has started registering citizens’ animals, charging UGX 4,000 for chicken and goats, and UGX 8,000 for cows and pigs.
The video, which has garnered 3410 likes, 178 comments, 581 saves, 5451 shares, in luganda, further claims that the exercise is already underway in Western Uganda. It also claims that people living in non-permanent houses will be evicted, children are being registered compulsorily, and pregnant women are being forced to name and register unborn children.
Background:
In Uganda, different bodies are responsible for different things; for instance, the registration of citizens is legally handled by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA), which is mandated under the Registration of Persons Act, 2015 to register births, deaths, and to issue national identification documents.
Currently, Uganda is currently undertaking a nationwide registration exercise led by NIRA to register citizens and issue National Identification Numbers (NINs) and birth certificates. The exercise also includes children, with NIRA focusing on birth registration and the registration of minors who are not yet in the national identification system as reported here, here and here.
In line with this effort, NIRA in July 2026, launched a school based registration drive targeting children who are not yet in the nation’s identification system. However, NIRA’s birth-registration procedures apply after a child is born. We found no provision requiring the registration of unborn children.
In the agriculture sector, the government through the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) works together with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), periodically conducting a National Livestock Census. The most recent was carried out in 2021.These exercises are used to collect information for agricultural planning and disease-control measures. We found no evidence that the livestock census involves a fee charged to citizens for each animal registered.
Evidence:
We queried the Info Verifier tool to assess the claims that Uganda is charging citizens to register animals and requiring the registration of unborn children. The results indicated that there are no specific reports suggesting that animal census involves direct charges to citizens and that the claim about registering unborn children is incorrect as current practices focus on birth registration after the child is born.
The links provided in support of the claim were also unrelated to the allegations and did not contain information confirming or substantiating them.
We conducted Google searches using relevant keywords related to the alleged animal registration fees, compulsory child registration and registration of unborn children. The search returned no credible evidence or official government announcement supporting the claims.
We reviewed the TikTok account that published the claim and examined its previous content and sourcing practices. The account frequently publishes political content and material critical of the government. However, the account’s political positioning alone does not establish whether this particular claim is true or false, so we relied on documentary and official sources to verify the allegations. On the other hand also reviewed the content of the video for clear analysis, the creator used images of prominent public figures in the post that do not correspond with the narration contributing to a misleading content.
The video also uses images of prominent public figures that do not correspond with the narration, which may create misleading context.
We also reviewed NIRA’s position on the registration of children. According to a report by the Uganda Info Hub, NIRA rolled out a nationwide campaign to register infants not unborn children as claimed.
According to the article, the initiative targets infants aged between zero and six months, with parents encouraged to take advantage of the free registration and certification services. Speaking about the campaign, NIRA registrar Claire Ollama explained that the exercise is part of the authority’s ongoing efforts to build a comprehensive national register and improve access to essential identification services.
“This is a birth registration campaign that we are taking to communities across the country to strengthen our national registration system. It is a service that every parent should embrace because it is not a one-time activity but a core function of NIRA,” Ollama said.
Methodology:
To verify the claim we used the following tools and methods;
Queried the Info Verifier for information relating to the alleged animal registration fees and the registration of unborn children.
Conducted Google searches using keywords related to the alleged animal registration charges, compulsory child registration and registration of unborn children.
Reviewed the TikTok account that published the claim, including its previous content and sourcing practices, to assess the context in which the information was presented.
Examined the video itself, including the images used alongside the narration, to determine whether the visual material corresponded with the claims being made.
Reviewed information on NIRA’s mandate and birth-registration procedures to establish whether children are registered before or after birth.
Reviewed information on Uganda’s livestock census to establish the purpose of livestock data collection and whether there was evidence of fees being charged to citizens for registering individual animals.
Verdict: False
The government is not charging citizens to register their animals or forcing registration of unborn children. While nationwide registration exercise is ongoing, it is limited to children after birth, including infants and school going children, as conducted by NIRA. Livestock data collection in Uganda is carried out through periodic censuses with the most recent conducted in 2021. We found no evidence that citizens were charged per animal during that exercise. The claim is unsupported, combining unrelated issues to create fear and confusion among the public, kindly dismiss the claim.