From: Leo Odera Omolo
Date: Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 11:24 PM

Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu City.

CROSS-BORDER passenger transporters now risk being fined up to USD 2,500 {Ushs 4.7 million}each illegal immigrant brought into the country.

“This is one of the deterrent measures introduced by the Internal Affairs Ministry. The Ministry devised these measures mainly to curb the current massive influx of illegal immigrants into Uganda.

Announcing the measure, the spokesperson in the Directorate of Immigration, Eunice Kisembo, said the measure would force all transport companies to always scrutinize clients’ travel documents, to ascertain their immigration status, before booking them for trip to Uganda, as well as before ushering them into their vehicles.

She added that most of the transporters do not scrutinize their client’s immigration status, but were only interested in money. “We are executing these regulations in line with the required standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization”. However, she added that the measure would also cover roads, sea and air transporters.

The Uganda Citizen and Immigration Control Act provides for prosecution of the owner or a person in charge of a ship, an aircraft or a vehicle, who brings in an illegal person.

These deterrent measure comes in the backdrop of the recent threats issued by Al-Shabaab, an Islamist insurgents groups in Somalia. The group said it would launch an attack in both Kampala in Uganda, and Bujumbura in Burundi, to punish the two countries, whose peacekeeping soldiers are alleged to have fired a rocket in Mogadishu two weeks ago, which killed close to 30p people.

Both Uganda and Burundi denied that the allegation that rockets were fired by members of their peacekeeping forces based in Mogadishu, under the African Union force dubbed a AMISOM.

Uganda is a landlocked country. However, it can be accessed by the use of vessels plying Lake Victoria from the ports located in the neighboring countries of Kenya and Tanzania.

The country has two border entry points at Busia and Malaba, along the Kenya-Uganda border. It has another border point at Mutukula, along the Uganda-Tanzania border, and several porous border crossings, from Southern Sudan, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Illegal immigrants entering Uganda are known to be using what is commonly called “Panya routes”, which are also commonly used by smugglers and racketeers involved in illicit trades, such as smuggling goods etc.

Ends

leooderaomolo@yahoo.com
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Subject: BUS AND MATATU OPERATORS WHO TRANSPORT ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS INTO UGANDA FROM OTHER COUNTRIES NOW RISK HEAVY FINE OF USHS 4.7 MILLION.