Ministry of foreign affairs officials arrested over fake diplomatic notes
Police established that all the 11 visa applicants were fronted as police officers going for training in Washington DC, United States of America. Out of the 11, ten were civilians.
The directorate of criminal investigations is working closely with the US Embassy in Kampala to investigate the circumstances under which 11 visa applicants allegedly submitted fraudulent documents to the embassy.
Police said 3 suspects have been arrested and charged with forgery of diplomatic notes for United States of America Visas.
In a press conference held at police headquarters in Nagruru on Monday, Fred Enanga, the police spokesperson said 2 diplomatic notes dated 21st June 2022 and 4th July 2022 were issued by the ministry of foreign affairs using falsified police certificates.
Enanga added that the certificates were signed on behalf of the director of Interpol and international relations, however, it was expected that the ministry of foreign affairs official had to carry out sufficient due diligence on whether the documents were authentic or not.
According to police, other facts gathered include that the diplomatic note of 21st of June was signed by Opio innocent, a first secretary at the ministry of foreign affairs who later acknowledged the signature on the document being his.
Whereas the document of 4th July was signed by Wandera Emmanuel, a foreign service officer at the ministry of foreign affairs who was correcting an error on the previous original document. However, he didn’t notify his superior.
Police established that all the 11 visa applicants were fronted as police officers going for training in Washington DC, United States of America. Out of the 11, ten were civilians.
Ennanga noted that the diplomatic notes were delivered to the US embassy by Kiwanuka Rose Mary after receiving them informally from an intermediary Odong John Baptist.
After carrying out investigations, police ascertained that for a given period, a group of agents have been submitting false applications for US visas at a cost.
They have been providing fake working experiences, fake bank documents, birth certificates, police certificates and marriage certificates in a bid to secure USA visas.
