The influx of Kenyans flocking to Uganda to illegally obtain the country's national identity cards has caused an alarm, compelling its Foreign Affairs Ministry to act.
According to Ugandan authorities, Kenya along with several other East African countries, were using the identity cards to commit crimes, especially drug trafficking.
Concerns were also raised regarding plans to exploit the Identity Cards to influence the country's 2026 General Election or obtain passports with the holders impersonating Ugandan citizens.
The relative ease of obtaining ID cards from Uganda was attributed to the absence of a centralized database within the country.
According to foreign affairs and security experts, the loopholes facilitate fraudulent activities by allowing ineligible applicants to defraud the ID-issuing authority by impersonating Ugandan citizens.
The Ministry lamented that the few who were caught reportedly incentivised the immigration officials with bribes to secure their release and fast-track approval for their applications.
As of August 8, Ugandan authorities already flagged over 10,000 ID cards that immigration officials illegally issued.
Apart from Kenya, residents from Burundi, China, India, Nigeria, Rwanda and South Sudan are also taking advantage of the lack of a central database to obtain ID cards.
“We have confiscated the 10,000 ID cards and we are sending them to National Identification and Registration Authority so that they can be cancelled,” the Ministry revealed the plan to destroy all the illegally obtained IDs.
Ugandan Foreign Affairs Ministry further emphasised that the country's digital passport had gained significant global demand, leading to numerous foreign nationals attempting to obtain it by all means possible.
However, individuals often exploit these ID cards and passports to conceal their identities and unlawfully enter countries like the US and China.
Specifically, he highlighted the stringent measures enforced by both countries against the entry of Nigerians and drug traffickers allegedly using Ugandan passports to gain unauthorized access.
VisaGuide Passport Index ranks the Ugandan passport 141st in the world as of July 2023, in contrast to Guide Passport Ranking Index, which ranks it at 83rd among global passports.
