The Ministry of Internal Affairs has opened new passport issuance facilities in Kyambogo and Mbale to reduce the long queues at the ministry headquarters.
The Kyambogo centre is located where the now defunct Face Technologies used to be.
In a security press briefing held on Monday, Immigration Services Spokesperson Jacob Siminyu said this is a move to decongest the Internal Affairs offices which in the past few weeks, have been overwhelmed by applicants.
“The ministry has decided to shift the passport picking centre to Kyambogo as a way to reduce on the spread of Covid-19,” Siminyu said.
“The general public should also be reminded that the long awaited branch of Mbale was opened on Friday last week for the people in the Eastern region that want to apply and those who would want to pick their documents.”
Siminyu said that the new development is to make the process of obtaining a passport for Ugandans who want to travel much easier and more efficient.
The immigration mouthpiece also noted that other branches, especially in the north and south western parts of the country will be announced and revealed soon, as the ministry continues to decentralise its processes.
In April this year, Ministry of Internal Affairs Permanent Secretary Dr. Benon Mutambi said that they were overwhelmed by passport applicants and that their systems were ‘overflowing’.
Mutambi said that they now print over 2000 passports daily, with the number of applicants increasing every day which had stretched them beyond their limits.
Immigration puts the increase in demand for passports to the COVID-19 situation that left many job less, and therefore looking for means of survival abroad.
