MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS SETS TWO MONTHS AS DEADLINE FOR OPENING WEST NILE PASSPORT CENTER

The newly established Immigration office for West Nile. All photos by Godwin Abedican.
 
By Godwin Abedican.
 
Arua
 
The ministry of internal affairs through the directorate of
Citizenship and immigration control has set an ultimatum of 2 months for the operationalization of the West Nile passport center located in Arua city.
 
Passport centers are typically located in major cities or areas with high passport application volumes.
 
Mag. Gen. Apollo Kasiita Gowa, the Director of Citizenship and Immigration Control in Uganda while speaking during a recent sensitization of West Nile leaders on immigration noted that, preparations are already in advanced stages towards having the passport center ready.
 
“Arua center is operational. I think the only thing that has been lacking is the passport center which allows one to enroll for a passport without either having to go to Gulu or to Kampala. Right now, we are in the final stages of making sure that happens. Give us a month or two, Arua office will be fully operational in all aspects for all the services that one may have wanted in Kampala,” he assured.
 
Mag. Gen. Apollo Kasiita Gowa, Director Citizenship and Immigration Control Uganda speaking during an engagement with regional leaders from West Nile recently.
 
A passport center is a location often serving as a central point for processing passport applications, renew or receive a passport, issuing documents and acting as a front-end service and is often an extension of a larger passport office under the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC).
 
In an interview with Sally Harrison, the Regional Immigration Officer for West Nile, he says that, it has been a very big challenge for west Nilers to get passports and this initiative comes as a relief to the population in the region.
 
“The preparations have started and are ongoing. The biggest preparation that we had as a directorate was to have our own home. We have a building which was finished a few years ago. From February, we have been working on other parts of the building especially partitioning the building to create offices for the different sections of the passport office and networking since the services will mostly be online or internet based,” Sally said.
 
Sally Harrison, the Regional Immigration Officer West Nile speaking to West Nile leaders on an engagement about immigration.
 
He further adds that apart from the current services the passport center once opened fully will be able to render all services that involve acquisition of passports.
 
“In Arua, the major activities at the passport office have been offering of advisory services to the applicants. With the opening of the center as a fully-fledged passport center, people will no longer have travel to Gulu or Kampala to have their finger prints captured and their photos taken, but all these will be done in Arua and also picking of passports will be done in Arua. We thank the people for being patient and we appreciate the patience because it has been long in the pipeline. We have been promising that its coming. Given the pace at which the works are going on, we believe that in two months we shall have the system here in Arua,” he reaffirmed.
 
Some of the working areas already created in the office
 
The director immigration however denied allegations and rumors which have been circulating indicating that the delays or failure to operationalize the Arua passport center were as a result of diversion of equipment meant for the center.
 
“That’s not true, we have opened up many service centers. Our president has been insisting that, we take services closer to the people by going to them but not making them come to us. So, we have opened up regional centers both in-country and out-country. As you may appreciate also, we have people in the diaspora. We have also opened up passport centers outside the country to cater for the people in the diaspora. So, it’s not true that, what was supposed to have come to Arua went to South Africa. That was just one of our foreign missions where we have immigration centers,” the Director Citizenship and immigration clarified.
 
Currently, Uganda has passport centers in Kampala, Mbarara, Jinja, Mbale and Gulu with passport applicants from West Nile having to travel up to Gulu or Kampala for Passport services.  
 
Mag. Gen. Kasiita Gowa with some of the immigration staff.
 

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