The Minister for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda yesterday commissioned the e-Passport system at Uganda’s High Commission in Ottawa- Canada.
During the launch, Hon. Babalanda congratulated the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC), Uganda Security Printing Company, Veridos GmbH, and the High Commission for having achieved this key milestone in Uganda’s effort to improve service delivery.
“Today’s event is a clear manifestation of the commitment of the NRM Government to extend service delivery to the Ugandans living in the diaspora,” she said.
The Minister explained that in 2018, the Government of Uganda signed a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) with the German Consortium of Veridos GmbH and G&D GmbH. She said the JVA resulted in the formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) called USPC.
“The Government, as a majority shareholder, mandated USPC to produce/ supply all Security documents and their attendant IT support system for Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. Some of the key documents that formed the business case of this JVA were the Passports and the National Identity Cards,” Hon. Babalanda revealed.
“In November 2018, an ePassport System supply contract between USPC and DCIC was signed and it is meant to run for a period of 15 years. In this contract, there are three critical deliverables for USPC which include Supply of ePassport blank booklets, Supply/rollout of the ePassport system to regional offices in Uganda (Mbarara, Gulu, and Mbale) and 7 foreign missions (London, Abu Dhabi, Copenhagen, Ottawa, Washington, Pretoria, and Beijing) and the Construction of an ePassport personalization building.”
Hon.Babalanda informed Uganda’s High Commissioner to Canada, H.E Joy Ruth Acheng that these deliverables were supposed to be achieved within a period of 3 years, however, the emergency of COVID-19 affected the speed at which this project was implemented.
“Nonetheless, as the overall Political Supervisor of USPC, I am glad to inform you that all 3 key deliverables are now complete.”
“Hon. Minister, I am aware that, as of today approximately One million passport booklets have been supplied by USPC to DCIC, the 3 regional offices were completed, and 7 foreign missions are already deployed with the ePassport system. Today, we are here to officially commission Ottawa whose work was completed last year but an official handover had not been done. I wish to extend my sincere appreciation to the leadership of DCIC whose cordial and supportive working relationship has enabled USPC to realize this performance,” she told the Minister of State for Internal Affairs, Gen. David Muhoozi who also attended the event.
In a special way, Hon. Babalanda thanked the Director of DCIC Major Gen. Apollo Gowa Kasiita, Brigadier Johnson Namanya, and Miss Julia Ikiso and her team for having steered this project very well.
“Major Gen. Gowa, I pray that since you are also a member of the Board of Directors of NIRA, the good spirit demonstrated by DCIC should be replicated on the other side of NIRA so that success is registered in all the projects that USPC is handling,” Hon.Babalanda said.
“I also thank the leadership of our High Commission in Ottawa and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for having accepted to host us and for their active participation in the whole process. Thank you so much Madam High Commissioner.”
On the other hand, the Minister called upon stakeholders to support USPC in order for it to realise the objectives of its creation.
“As the supervisor of USPC, I am happy to note that during my term of office, the company has continued to gain more capacity and hence improve its performance. This has resulted in improved management of the stakeholders’ expectations. In the last two years, I have seen USPC boosting its staffing levels and appointment of new Board Members which has also strengthened its leadership and responsiveness to the clients’ concerns,” she said.
“In the same period, I have also witnessed the commissioning of the construction of the Security Printing Factory at Entebbe, where all the Government Security documents will be produced. Today, we are again here to witness the official “go live” event of the ePassport System in Ottawa which is a sign of the Government of Uganda’s to ensure effective and efficient service delivery to our citizens through Government Institutions like DCIC and USPC.”
She further expressed gratitude to DCIC for the continued support towards USPC, saying that the former has so far contributed almost 90 percent to the latter’s revenue.
“All the developments and achievements that have been realized by USPC, are a result of the great support from DCIC. It is, therefore, my humble prayer that you again extend the same superintendence to NIRA so that the same results can be achieved. Hon. Minister, Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu (Permanent Secretary of Internal Affairs Ministry) and Maj. Gen. Gowa, I really need your concerted support on this matter,” Hon.Babalanda noted.
“You will appreciate the fact that the more businesses we give to USPC, the easier it will be for the Government to complete the Security Printing Factory, create employment opportunities for our people, reduce foreign exchange haemorrhage, gain economic independence, and finally contribute to the development agenda of our country,” she concluded.
The event was also attended by officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, USPC, Veridos GmbH and the Ugandan Community in Canada.
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