Africa-Press – Uganda. Local Leaders and passport applicants in eastern region have accused Mbale regional immigration officers of extortion.
The accusations follow the arrest of a middleman who has been reportedly conniving with some immigration staff to extort money from passport applicants.
The suspect was allegedly arrested at Mbale regional immigration office last week and detained at Mbale City Central Police Station.
Ms Prossy Mwanjuzi, the deputy Resident City Commissioner, said some officials have been withholding passports from owners who decline to pay bribes.
According to Ms Mwanjuzi, the bribes range between Shs50,000 and Shs100,000 per person.
“They keep tossing the applicants who paid for their passport because they fail to pay a bribe,” she said.
Ms Mwanjuzi decried the increasingly suspected middlemen that have reportedly been deployed by some immigration staff to solicit bribes from passport applicants.
She said a suspect was arrested after receiving a bribe.
“The suspect approached one Muhammmad Bapana asking him for a bribe of Shs50,000 before he could get his passport. Since he (Bapana) didn’t have money, he contacted me seeking help, ”Ms Mwanjuzi said.
The Elgon regional police spokesperson, Mr Rogers Taitika, confirmed the arrest.
However, Mr Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Internal Affairs spokesperson, who visited the office on fact finding on Wednesday, dismissed the allegations.
“I tried to investigate if the suspect had been dealing with our staff in vain. I interviewed him about the matter but there are no links,” Mr Mundeyi said.
Delays in passports addressed
Mr Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Internal Affairs spokesperson (pictured), attributed the passport delays to challenges of importing some of the materials for making passport booklets.
“We have not been getting passport sufficient numbers because of the challenges of importing some of the materials. For instance, instead of getting 30,000 passports, we have been getting about 800 but that has been sorted and we are now able to get all the passports we need,” he said.
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