Immigration directorate bans staff from having mobile phones while on duty

The Directorate of Immigration at the Ministry of Internal Affairs has banned its staff from having their mobile phones while on duty and attending to members of the public.

The decision of immigration staff to work without mobile phones on duty came up as a measure from the directorate to stamp out acts of soliciting bribes from travellers or making them miss their flights due to unjustifiable reasons.

According to Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the directorate’s management along with other sister agencies, has held a number of meetings with immigration staff at the airport from where they drew conclusions on several measures of how to reduce corruption tendencies at the airport.

“All immigration staff must be in full uniform, complete with names embroidered on the shirts. The immigration uniform is made up of a white shirt and forest green trousers for men. A white shirt and forest green skirt for ladies, although some do put on trousers too,” Mundeyi said.

Additionally, all immigration staff must have access cards issued by the civil aviation authority. This, according to Mundeyi, will display details of the holder’s particulars hence making it easy to capture any staff that may misbehave while on duty.

He added that senior officers have been deployed to boost the supervision of immigration staff and be readily available to listen to complaints.

“We also urge travellers not to offer bribes to any of our staff and to immediately report any misconduct on the part of our staff. Swift and just disciplinary actions are always taken once any of our staff is found guilty of misconduct,” he said.

It should be noted that over the weekend different people on social media platforms have been complaining about allegations of corruption tendencies at Entebbe International Airport.

However, in a public notice released by Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, it clarified that circulating videos do not indicate time, checkpoint, day, flight details or when the extortions were but were to continue with investigations.

The Authority urged the travelling public not to be lured into paying money to any staff they interface with, in the course of travelling through Entebbe International Airport.