Makerere University, Uganda – March 14, 2025 – Graduate students funded under the Certifications of Citizenship in Africa (CERTIZENS) project presented their ongoing research to the Doctoral Committee at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS). The session, held at the Grand Global Hotel in a Kampala suburb, aimed to evaluate the students' progress as they approach graduation, with the CERTIZENS project nearing its completion.
The CERTIZENS project is a collaborative initiative funded by DANIDA, involving three universities: the University of Copenhagen, the University of Ghana, and Makerere University. Its primary goal is to investigate the impact of digitized biometric identification systems, focusing on how these systems affect citizenship, state-society relations, and individual rights, particularly in Uganda and Ghana.
Dr. Asiimwe Belinda Godfrey, the project’s founder, shared that the initiative emerged in response to the global push for biometric identification, driven by organizations like the World Bank and IMF. While these systems aim to enhance government planning and service delivery, concerns have arisen regarding data security, citizenship legitimacy, and the marginalization of vulnerable populations. “We are questioning whether these systems truly serve the people’s interests or if they primarily benefit external corporations,” Dr. Godfrey noted. The project examines how biometric systems impact various ethnic and social groups, such as the Banyarwanda in Uganda, whose citizenship has been challenged due to the streamlined nature of modern ID processes. The research also explores how digitization affects access to vital services like banking, education, and healthcare.
The CERTIZENS project also contributes to the global conversation on "legal identity for all," in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which aims to ensure legal identity for all by 2030. The findings from this research are expected to influence both policy and the future development of digital identification systems.
During the meeting, doctoral students shared their progress and received valuable feedback from their committee members, helping refine their research ahead of their final defenses. PhD candidate Martin Buhamizo, who is focusing on the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) in Uganda, expressed gratitude for the session: “The feedback has been invaluable. It’s helped me identify gaps in my work that I hadn’t noticed. This learning process will ultimately strengthen my academic arguments.”
Milcah Abasabyona, another PhD candidate, highlighted the importance of constructive feedback from diverse academic perspectives. “Today has been great because it allowed me to meet with my PhD committee members one-on-one, share ideas, and receive feedback that will help me improve my research,” she said. Balancing her PhD with her responsibilities as a mother and professional, Abasabyona encouraged other women to pursue academic opportunities. “Gender should be a strength, not a weakness. Women can achieve great things if they are determined,” she added.
Although the project was initially set to conclude in 2024, it has been extended until June 2025 to allow further research and the completion of PhD dissertations. Dr. Godfrey expressed confidence in the students’ readiness to graduate, stating, "With the input from today’s session, I’m hopeful they will be able to complete their research and defend their theses successfully."
The CERTIZENS project is a significant academic undertaking that also contributes to the global debate on digital identification systems and their impact on citizenship, rights, and security. The research conducted by the doctoral students is poised to provide valuable insights into how biometric IDs are reshaping societies in Uganda, Ghana, and beyond.
The CERTIZENS Project
According to the University of Copenhagen, the CERTIZENS project focuses on the logics, policies, and practices of citizen classification, certification, and identification in selected African contexts. It aims to analyze their multifaceted effects on state-making and citizenship processes. From passports to voter registration, accessing healthcare, or even acquiring a SIM card, ID documents are vital to everyday life. In Africa, however, an estimated 50% of people lack formal proof of identity, contributing to a global crisis. This issue has gained increasing attention, particularly through the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 16.9, which aims to provide legal identity for all by 2030.
The CERTIZENS project addresses multiple interconnected dimensions of citizen classification and identification by examining four key arenas: international, national, intermediate, and intimate. At the international level, the project explores global policies promoting identification systems and how they interact with national regimes. Nationally, it investigates historical and contemporary systems of citizen certification and the implications of digitalization. The intermediate arena looks at bureaucracies of certification and the state-citizen interactions involved in registration and documentation. At the intimate level, CERTIZENS examines the lived effects of these systems in local communities. By comparing the experiences of Uganda and Ghana, the project offers valuable insights into the diverse challenges faced by citizens and provides a framework for understanding global identity policies. Given the growing importance of the "identity for all" agenda, CERTIZENS’ findings have global relevance, shaping policy and practices both within and beyond Africa.
The CERTIZENS Uganda Project
In Uganda, Dr. Godfrey B. Asiimwe, the CERTIZENS Uganda Project Coordinator, is leading a study titled Certifications of Citizenship in Uganda: The Intimate Arena. This project examines the relationship between Uganda’s national citizen certification system and the lived experiences of its citizens, exploring tensions between governance and individual realities. Another key researcher, Toke Møldrup Wolff, is investigating Certifications of Citizenship in Uganda: The Intermediate Arena. This research looks into the transition from traditional forms of certification to digitalized systems in Uganda and their implications for state-making and citizen-making.
Milcah Abasabyona’s PhD project, Intimacies of Identification and Lived Citizenship Among the Ghetto Youths in Kampala, focuses on the unregistered youth in Kampala’s informal settlements. Through an ethnographic approach, Abasabyona explores how these young people assert their identity through alternative forms of certification, providing insights into how unrecognized citizens navigate their sense of belonging and purpose. Meanwhile, Martin Buhamizo’s research, Bureaucracies of National Digitization and Citizen Certification in Uganda, investigates the bureaucratic processes involved in Uganda’s national certification system, with a particular focus on the digitization technologies that are transforming citizen identification.
The CERTIZENS International
On the international front, Amanda Wendel Malm’s research project, Global ID Policies and their Impact in Ghana and Uganda, explores how global ID policies are being adapted and implemented in Uganda and Ghana. This research provides a critical perspective on how international strategies for citizen certification intersect with local practices and realities.
The overall CERTIZENS project, led by Amanda Hammar, emphasizes intellectual coherence and ongoing learning, ensuring meaningful exchanges among researchers and cross-fertilization with scholars, policymakers, and practitioners engaged with related work outside the project. This collaboration is key to maintaining a broader perspective on the challenges and opportunities presented by digital identification systems.
The CERTIZENS project continues to make substantial contributions to understanding the complexities of citizen identification systems in Africa, offering critical insights into their social, political, and personal implications.