By Leo Odera Omolo
Uganda has declared it will destroy passport worth Ushs 4 billion (USD 710,000) designed for the East African Community before Rwanda and Burundi join the regional bloc
The document will be redesigned to include the two new BAS members, although the printing of the earlier passport was stopped primarily because the equipment broke down two years ago.
The immigration department which planned to issue the passports to 70,000 Ugandans says the detective printer used outdated technology that relied on lamination at the applicant’s photograph into the travel document.
Although immigration departments across the region have sense introduced new technology to curb passport forgeries, EAC passports have not been upgrades because of the need for consensus by member countries
That site, Uganda had a huge crock of printed passport books that causes not be issued using the new technology, which involves scanning and embedding the photographs in the passports.
News emerging from Kampala qualified officials as saying that the Ugandan government pursing machine supplied by UK firm De ha Rue in 1995 is now in serviceable; although it can still capture data and do laminating work, it cannot do the final printing.
De ha Rue experts had inspected the machine and continued that there are neither spore parts for the neither old machine nor new machine of the same make because the opted for new technologies.
Mr. Wilberforce Ngonde, the Uganda ’s Assistant Commissioner for immigration weekly as saying that DeLa Rue has advised the government to buy a new machine, whose lost, is yet to the determined.
“To sort out the problem, we will have to buy a new machine and destroy the unused stock of old passport book, which lost USD 710,000. The government said forced to incur the lost because the old machine cannot be serviced. It is a scrap,” said the Minister of State Internal Affairs, Maria Kasaija.
It has been established that in spite of failing to print the passport in the past two years, the immigration Department continues to reject new applications for the EAC passports
The official says demand for the passport has shot up with the coming on board of Rwanda and Burundi.
Uganda says it will put off issuing of the passport initial a redesign is endorsed by the region. They further stated that the Each African immigration chiefs with new features that would be contained in the new passports then pass them to the Council of Ministers of the EAC for approval.
It major issue for discussion during the design is the logo for the passports as the current document does not reflect the new member presence in the community old EAC passports.
East African passport are supposed to ease movement of East Africans across the boarder of the member countries. For example holders such passports do not need to have the stamped each time they cross regions as boarders. A stamp is valid for at least six months
Ends
leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2009 06:21:12 -0800 [08:21:12 AM CST]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: UGANDA TO SCRAP EAST AFRICAN PASSPORTS WORTH BILLION OF SHILLINGS