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The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has apologised for extortion complaints levelled against officials at Entebbe International Airport. The authority has since pledged to reinforce the supervision of immigration officials.
This week, Uganda’s social media spheres have been awash with allegations from travellers who claim that some immigration officers demand bribes before clearing them to take flights. The authority admitted that there were cases of extortion that were thoroughly investigated and disciplinary action taken against those found culpable.
The bribes asked by the officers in question are said to range between $100 (Shs380,000) and $1000 (Shs3.8 million).
The victims claim that despite presenting all necessary documents required for travel outside Uganda, some officers come up with ‘baseless’ excuses to block their flights.
They say, it is only after paying bribes that they are allowed to proceed with their flights.
According to UCAA, some of the airport personnel do not report directly to the authority but to other service providers that include, including handling agents (NAS and DAS), airlines, ministry of Health through port health, security agencies, Uganda Revenue Authority customs, and ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (Labour externalization agents), among others.
However, in cases reported, UCAA management said in a statement on Thursday, that they have been and would be thoroughly investigated and disciplinary action taken against those found culpable.
A traveller who spoke on condition of anonymity says that no specific amount of money is demanded but it ranges between $100 and $500 depending on the person querying and the nature of the query. The victims may then, after negotiations, be directed to a disguised person to hand over the money.
The source says that the alternative is to refuse to pay the amount and miss the flight. But usually, a traveller weighing between losing money for another air ticket, and also getting late for the scheduled business, chooses to pay the bribe and save themselves the bigger bother.
But Barungi said that any airport staff demanding money from travellers is committing an illegal act. In March last year, three officials were arrested by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit after a refugee missed a flight ending up spending another $1,800 for another air ticket. UCAA has cautioned travellers against paying bribes to any staff for any favours, adding that the traveller could equally be held liable for the act.
Civil Aviation speaks out
In a statement released on Thursday, Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA) said they had noted the trending videos and said that where such incidents could have happened, were regrettable.
UCCA noted that while they facilitate operations at Entebbe Airport, this is done in liaison with other several independent providers of key services, including, but not limited Immigration.
The authority added that were previously reported cases have been reported, they have always taken action and reprimanded the culprits including terminating their contracts and withdraw of airport access passes from them.
However, in the case of trending videos, UCCA says there is no substantial evidence to show that the incidents happened at the Immigration offices.
“Unfortunately, none of the regurgitated trending videos shows specifically states a particular check point, time, day and flight details of when the alleged extortion may have taken place. This would help investigations,” UCCA stated.
The authority maintains that whereas they shall continue to take action, they need the public to cooperate with them by sharing specific timely information for action.
It should be remembered that this is not the first time citizen travellers have complained about extortion by immigration officers at Entebbe.
Last year in May, three immigration officers were arrested at the airport after allegedly causing a refugee to miss her flight purporting that she had forged clearance documents from the Office of the Prime Minister to the contrary.
The traveller had since incurred extra costs in excess of $1800.
Contributions from Nile Post and the Observer