Immigration blacklisted for frustrating investors

Dec 11, 2005

THE Immigration Department has been blacklisted for frustrating the Government’s efforts in wooing investors into the country.

By Hillary Kiirya
THE Immigration Department has been blacklisted for frustrating the Government’s efforts in wooing investors into the country.
An Internal Security Organisation (ISO) intelligence report to President Yoweri Museveni alleges that the fate of about 5,000 applications for several investors since 2003 is un- known.
The report says all the files for investors’ work permits have been held by the Immigration Commissioner.
“She has declared that no intending investor should be allowed to bring in an application,” says the report.
The report alleges that unless one pays a bribe of not less than sh3m they cannot get a work permit.
“Your Excellency, the field intelligence currently gathered on immigration has unearthed two things mostly mishandling of investors/foreigners application files for work permits and interference in the already organised passport control section of the Immigration Department,” reads the report.
The report said it is Government’s policy to woo investors as Uganda Investment Authority licenses them yet they get a very big problem in getting the work permits from the Immigration Department, which was described as corrupt.
“This weakness has made some aliens loiter in the country without any thing to do,” adds the report.
The report recommended “an independent minded person’ with integrity be appointed to see the department regain the long tarnished and corrupt image.”
It called for the monitoring of traffic inflows and outflows at all the boarder points to access and maintain security interests, both at headquarters and upcountry.
It also called for dropping and investigating of Mutibwa in her absence.
Said the report: “There used to be a tendency of hiding passport files so as to solicit bribes to get Ugandan passports.
“This has been streamlined through decentralisation, which the Commissioner has also suspended so as to allow them for delay in processing passports to give room for bribery.
“There is no policy of appointing and therefore there has never been any legal transfer in the Department since 1994, which is the reign of the current Commissioner, yet she goes ahead to displace all Immigration employees, which seems to be delaying the Government’s programmes. This leaves one to wonder as to which government the commissioner is answerable,” the report said.
Recently an ISO report unearthed a loss of billions of shillings in the Department and called for the restructuring of the department.
A parliamentary report also called for the same.
Ends

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