By Brian Okoth
If you lose your Ugandan passport while abroad, you will now be required to return to the East African nation to apply for a replacement.
This is because the country has banned the processing of lost passports in all its 38 embassies worldwide.
Uganda's Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control has communicated to all its embassies to immediately implement the directive, the country's media report.
According to Uganda's internal affairs ministry, some Ugandans in the diaspora have been selling their passports to people who have hidden intentions, including fraud.
Long-term effect on reputation
The ministry says the sale of passport has a long-term effect on the reputation of Ugandans internationally, and that some countries had already submitted formal complaints against Ugandan nationals.
Interior ministry's spokesperson Simon Mundeyi told Uganda's newspaper "Daily Monitor" that some citizens abroad sold their passports for $5,000 – that is nearly 19 million Ugandan shillings – to buyers who had ulterior motives.
Mundeyi added that the Ugandans would then go to embassies and apply for passport replacement.
The interior ministry official said on May 7: "Many countries in Europe and Asia find it difficult to differentiate people of colour, and it was becoming easy for a person of colour from another country to beat the immigration system using a Ugandan passport."
Thorough examination
Mundeyi added that processing lost passports in Uganda would allow a thorough examination of applicants before they are issued with new passports.
Uganda says it has entered into a special arrangement with foreign countries to allow Ugandans who lose passports to travel back home.
The interior ministry however clarified that Ugandans with expired passports will continue seeking renewal at embassies, saying that renewal requires an applicant to first present his or her old passport.
According to the country's foreign affairs ministry, there are more than 780,000 Ugandans in the diaspora.
Extra costs
Replacing an ordinary passport in the East African nation costs 250,000 Ugandan shillings ($65), and it takes a few weeks to process. An express passport, which takes a processing period of three to five working days, costs 400,000 Ugandan shillings ($105).
The new directive subjects Ugandans who have lost their passports to extra costs, mainly transport charges.
For illustration purpose, let us say there are these two Ugandan nationals – one lives in Beijing, China, and the other in New York, the United States.
Let us also assume that they genuinely lost their passports, and have work permits in the foreign nations.
Cheapest fees
New York is approximately 11,400 kilometres from Uganda's Entebbe city that has the country's main airport.
And we have selected the cheapest airline that connects New York to Entebbe, though with several stop-overs.
If the travel date is late May, with a return option of late June, one would incur at least 1,100 US dollars, and a total of 68 flight hours for the to and fro journey.
The Ugandan in Beijing – a city located 9,500 kilometres from Entebbe – would incur at least 1,200 US dollars in airline costs and a minimum of 34 flight hours.
Previously, these two people only needed to visit Uganda's embassies in the respective capital cities Washington DC and Beijing to apply for passport replacement.
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