Several Ugandans have expressed concerns over what they have termed as massive bribery and arrogance involving immigration officers at Entebbe International Airport.
This follows trending social media posts in which many allege that some immigration officers are demanding bribes from citizen travellers before clearing them to take flights.
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.
This has raised intrigue among some Ugandans especially on social media, with some, calling for government's intervention into what they say is a growing vice at the airport.
Some of the victims have taken to social media, to share their experiences.
Ugandan rapper, Don MC Kapaata said on Wednesday, that he had been forced to miss his flight after refusing to pay Shs3.8 million bribe to one of the staff members at the immigration offices to clear his documents.
"Entebbe airport is full of ignorant,arrogant, incompetent, corrupt beings..These guys' main Job is to make travellers miss their flights. Recently I missed my flight because I refused to give them 1000 dollars they asked for so they could allow me on the flight.." the rapper said in a tweet.
Entebbe airport Is full of Ignorant,arrogant,Incompetent ,corrupt... .. beings ... These guys' main Job is to make travellers miss their flights..Recently I missed my flight because I refused to give them 1000 dollars they asked for so they could allow me on the flight whose... .. pic.twitter.com/MErHjOfjmM-- DON MC KAPATA (@DONMCKAPATA) January 18, 2023
Another victim shared about how she missed out on her dream job in Dubai because of the immigration officers who delayed to clear her documents, on claims that she looked young.
"My flight was bounced three times yet all my travel documents were valid. I told the officer my job was ready and they told me I looked young. They gave out all excuses despite contacting my agent in Dubai who confirmed with the Dubai Immigration office that my documents had no any issue," she says.
She adds that she was forced to bribe some other officer, dollars of money before she was allowed to take the flight.
She claims she ended up working as a maid in Dubai since she was too late for her dream job.
"Who are you to judge where I'm going yet I have all the documents and papers," she wondered.
Still about Entebbe International Airport staff. You need to polish. Stop blocking passengers from flights with baseless reasons Indirectly demanding for money(Corruption) @CanaryMugume @nbstv (NBS Investigates) @ntvuganda @PoliceUg @UgandaCAA pic.twitter.com/GsMIXC2c7E-- Shimon Aine (@ShimonRwakimani) January 18, 2023
Another victim, a one, Henry Mawanda says he was denied clearance on grounds that the first letter of his surname on his passport was not clear.
She told me the letter 'M' in 'Mawanda' was not upright and I asked her why she got issues with my name yet she was able to pronounce it correctly," Mawanda says in a video.
He says the lady asked him to pay Shs300,000 bribe, the money he did not have at that moment.
"She told me if I failed to do that, she had no way to help me and handed me back my passport. I only had Shs160,000 in my pockets which I had to travel with. I had to call my mother in the village to sell my Shs700,000-worth bed to raise the balance of Shs140,000 which the lady had asked for before she could clear me," Mawanda says.
Minister of transport please help us on Entebbe airport to set up the exactly fee we have to pay before boarding flights. pic.twitter.com/JqgfhH5JdU-- muzukulu wa kalori (@wa_kalori) January 18, 2023
Others have also brought up allegations of arrogant staff members they say are always on their smartphones instead of serving people in long queues.
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 where 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.
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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.
