The Ministry of Internal Affairs has said it has bust a racket of Ugandans who sell their passports to foreigners for as little as $500 and later report them as lost.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson, Simon Mundeyi, in the past two months, cases of Ugandans who have lost their passports have increased, prompting investigations into the matter.
“We realized cases of lost passports had gone up. We found out that these Ugandans have been selling their passports to foreigners, mostly Africans in Nordic countries, Saudi Arabia and China.These non-Ugandans buy these genuine passports from Ugandans for as low as between $3000 and $5000. The Ugandans would then report them passports as lost and apply for new ones at the embassies,” Mundeyi said.
He said that the foreign missions would then issue new passports yet old one are still in circulation.
The problem
The Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson said problems have risen after the foreigners use these passports to commit crimes under the pretext of being Ugandans.
“These criminals would go ahead and do photo alteration and other features on the passports before using them to commit crimes by passing off as Ugandans.”
Mundeyi however noted that going forward, government has tightened the noose around the criminal racket.
He said Ugandans who lose passports will no longer be able to replace them abroad.
“Going forward, any Ugandan living abroad will not be able to replace a lost passport at the embassy but will have to return home for the ministry and the host government to carry out joint investigations before issuing the replacement,” Mundeyi said.
According to Internal Affairs, this move will make it difficult for Ugandans to sell their passports to foreigners but also enable Uganda and the host governments carry out joint investigations before issuing replacements for lost passports.
