East African Gazette
Kampala
Since the beginning of 2024, a total of 2000 passports have been applied for but remain uncollected by their owners, as reported by Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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The spokesperson for the ministry, Simon Mundeyi, revealed that the overall number of unclaimed passports has now reached 50000, with the majority being stored at their center in Kyambogo, located in Kampala.
During a joint security briefing at the police headquarters in Naguru, Nakawa Division, Kampala on April 8, 2024, Mundeyi emphasized that these uncollected passports date back to 2019 and continue to accumulate.
“We have so many passports from 2019 up to this year. For example, this year alone, between January to April, we have 2000 passports which have not been collected. Since every day we have new applicants, having so many uncollected passports pose a challenge to our stores,” he noted
Mudenyi stated that the reason for the backlog of uncollected passports was due to owners being unable to receive notifications on their phones prompting them to pick up their documents.
He explained that in some rare situations, passports may be prepared, notifications sent out for collection, but recipients may have their phones turned off or lack network coverage.
He noted that if a message is dispatched to a phone that is switched off or has no network connection, it will not be delivered and will remain undelivered.
Mundeyi also said another cause for the uncollected passports might be the decline in the export of Ugandan labor to the Middle East.
He claimed that a significant number of these unclaimed passports are for the young women who had intended to travel to the Middle East.
He said due to the recent downturn in the business, it is possible that many of them might have lost interest in pursuing their plans and have instead returned to their hometowns.
Mundeyi urged all individuals who applied for passports to either collect it promptly or visit the Internal Affairs website to check the status of their documents, as this would help to ensure that the passports are not left unclaimed and that individuals are aware of the progress of their applications.