By Kellen Owente
The internal affairs ministry has announced that the passport office shutdown will begin tomorrow (Thursday, January 19) to Monday (January 23) as opposed to an earlier communication which indicated that the operation would start from Friday, January 20, to Tuesday, January 24.
Addressing journalists at the Uganda Media Center today (Wednesday, January 18), internal affairs ministry permanent secretary Lt. Gen. Joseph Musanyufu said the shutdown is intended to pave way for a comprehensive system upgrade and maintenance.
Represented by commissioner for citizenship and passport control at the internal affairs ministry Brig. Gen. Johnson Namanya, Musanyufu said the applicants will miss all passport services, including passport applications, scheduling appointments, enrolment (interviews), printing, and collection.
The operation will also see service centres and offices of Kampala at the ministry headquarters, Kyambogo Mbarara, Mbale and Gulu, as well as the diaspora offices in Washington, London, Ottawa, Copenhagen, Pretoria and Abu Dhabi shut down.
“Passport applicants will not be able to access our online services at www.passports.go.ug or schedule appointments for those two days. Enrolment and collection of passports will not be possible,” he added.
Internal affairs ministry spokesperson Simon Mundeyi said: “We apologise for the inconvenience caused. Our staff is dedicated to serving all our clients to the last, we pledge that by next week, we shall be back to normal.”
