Kategaya launches new passports
Oct 11, 2002
GOVERNMENT has invested US$700,000 (sh1.2b) in enhancing security features in the new passports launched yesterday.
By John Eremu
GOVERNMENT has invested US$700,000 (sh1.2b) in enhancing security features in the new passports launched yesterday.
Ugandans abroad will not need to travel to Kampala to acquire or renew their passports. Uganda’s mission in Pretoria, South Africa, effective next month starts issuing passports alongside Washington and London.
The new passports from De La Rue Global Services of Britain, are designed in line with International Civil Aviation Standards Organisation (ICAO) are difficult to forge, the company’s project manager, Joseph Zammit, said during the launch at the Ministry of Internal Affairs headquarters.
“The new passports will completely eliminate the problem of false substitution of photographs. It is very easy to identify if someone tries to tamper with it,†Zammit said.
The First Deputy Prime Minister, Eriya Kategaya, who presided over the ceremony, said the passports will build international confidence in Ugandans travelling abroad.
“The moment people know your passports are not reliable, you run the risk of being thrown out of any country,†Kategaya said.
“We are now going to give real homework to those who have been forging our passports. If they have been taking a few hours, they will now take much longer,†he added.
The security features on the passport include a digitally-scanned holder’s signature and photograph, with a ghost image of the photograph adjacent to the real photo.
Unlike the old passports, the photograph appears on the inside page of the back leaf.
Zammit said the photographs appear on the last page not only in conformity with ICAO and European Union requirements, but also because the page is thinner and difficult to tamper with.
The Passport Control Officer, O.B. Muchandara, said the new equipment can process 300 passports a day instead of 200.
GOVERNMENT has invested US$700,000 (sh1.2b) in enhancing security features in the new passports launched yesterday.
Ugandans abroad will not need to travel to Kampala to acquire or renew their passports. Uganda’s mission in Pretoria, South Africa, effective next month starts issuing passports alongside Washington and London.
The new passports from De La Rue Global Services of Britain, are designed in line with International Civil Aviation Standards Organisation (ICAO) are difficult to forge, the company’s project manager, Joseph Zammit, said during the launch at the Ministry of Internal Affairs headquarters.
“The new passports will completely eliminate the problem of false substitution of photographs. It is very easy to identify if someone tries to tamper with it,†Zammit said.
The First Deputy Prime Minister, Eriya Kategaya, who presided over the ceremony, said the passports will build international confidence in Ugandans travelling abroad.
“The moment people know your passports are not reliable, you run the risk of being thrown out of any country,†Kategaya said.
“We are now going to give real homework to those who have been forging our passports. If they have been taking a few hours, they will now take much longer,†he added.
The security features on the passport include a digitally-scanned holder’s signature and photograph, with a ghost image of the photograph adjacent to the real photo.
Unlike the old passports, the photograph appears on the inside page of the back leaf.
Zammit said the photographs appear on the last page not only in conformity with ICAO and European Union requirements, but also because the page is thinner and difficult to tamper with.
The Passport Control Officer, O.B. Muchandara, said the new equipment can process 300 passports a day instead of 200.