A new passport issuance point is set to be opened next week to decongest Internal Affairs main offices in Kampala amid ever increasing demand for passports.
While appearing on Nbs TV’s SpotlightUG show on Monday night, Maj. Gen.Apollo Kasiita Gowa, the Director for Citizenship and Immigration Control at the Ministry of Internal Affairs said that the new facility will be opened and operationalized by next week.
“We are looking at opening another center in Kampala to decongest the Ministry of Internal Affairs offices. It is painful to see Ugandans lining up,” Maj Gen Gowa said.
He also revealed that the ministry is contemplating using some facilities of Posta Uganda to boost their capacity to serve the public amid the skyrocketing demand for travel documents among Ugandans.
Equipping regional passport offices in regional cities like Jinja, Gulu, Lira, Arua, Mbarara and Fortportal has in the past been advanced as a long term solution to the predicament but operationalization bureaucracies have held the arrangement back.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs Permanent Secretary, Dr Benon Mutambi, the demand for passport has more than doubled from the original 1000 a day before covid-19 to over 2000 after. This has been attributed to the economic strife brought about the pandemic. This left many people jobless and thus looking for opportunities abroad became a viable option for many.
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