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Passports worth UGX11 bn to be destroyed

Peter 24th Jul, 2025 Logistics Pedson Mumbere
Passports worth UGX11 bn to be destroyed

An ordinary Ugandan passport. The Immigration Department is keeping more than 42,000 unclaimed books. FILE PHOTO


At least 42,000 unclaimed Ugandan passports worth UGX 10.5 billion are set to be destroyed by the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC), an official has said.

The revelation comes less than a year after the Ministry of Internal Affairs destroyed more than 62,000 passports valued at UGX15.5 billion, which had also gone unclaimed despite repeated reminders to their owners.

Simon Peter Mundeyi, the Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson, confirmed the impending destruction, saying the situation has become untenable.

  • “We call on applicants to pick these passports. We now have more than 42,000 unclaimed passports. These have continued to pile even after we destroyed 62,000 last year. We appeal to Ugandans to come and collect them,” Mundeyi said.

The bulk of these abandoned documents (over 97%) are ordinary passports, with each costing UGX 250,000.

They are stacked across DCIC branches in Kyambogo, Mbale, Mbarara, Jinja, Fort Portal, Hoima, Masindi, Arua, Masaka, and Lira, taking up valuable storage space, according to Mundeyi.

  • But why are so many Ugandans abandoning passports they worked hard to acquire?
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The Ministry attributes it to a combination of false promises of overseas jobs, fraud, and disrupted recruitment processes.

Thousands applied for passports after being assured of lucrative opportunities in countries like Israel, the UK, Canada, and the US, only to discover they had fallen prey to fraudulent recruiters or that their dream jobs had evaporated.

The COVID-19 lockdowns worsened the situation by freezing travel and crippling external recruitment agencies.

Additionally, the temporary suspension of labour recruitment by Saudi Arabia one of the biggest destinations for Ugandan migrant workers left many hopeful travellers stranded.

  • For some, the passports they once desperately needed became worthless reminders of broken promises.
  • The situation has been made worse by fraudsters and scams promising non-existent jobs to unsuspecting job seekers.

These scams have left thousands disillusioned, broke, and unwilling to collect passports that no longer serve a purpose.

“These passports cost the government and applicants a lot of money to process. It is painful to burn them, but we cannot store them forever,” Mundeyi added.

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