Police arrest 6O Rwandans for illegal entry into Uganda
Kigezi sub-region police spokesperson Elly Maate speaks to the detained Rwandans at Kabale Police Station yesterday. PHOTO BY ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
Apprehended. They were reportedly travelling to Mubende District to work in tea estates.
Kabale.
The police in Kabale are holding 69 Rwandan nationals aged between 18 and 30 for allegedly entering the country illegally.
The Kigezi sub-region police spokesman, Mr Elly Maate, said the accused persons were arrested on Tuesday at around 1:30pm at Kabaraga Hill on the Kabale-Kampala road after they were found without any travel documents.
The accused people, who were travelling in a bus, said they were going to work in tea estates in Mityana District.
“We believe they entered Uganda through the porous borderline in the sub-counties of Rubaya and Butanda in Kabale District,” Mr Maate said.
He added: “Knowing that security is tight in Kabale Town, they used boda-boda motorcycles to transport them to a hideout a few kilometres on the Kabale-Kampala road from where they boarded the bus. We managed to arrest them before they travelled 10km from Kabale Town at Kabaraga Hills,” Mr Maate added.
One of the suspects said they came to Uganda to do menial jobs in tea estates to earn a living, adding that there are no job opportunities in their country.
The Kabale District Police Commander, Mr Bosco Arop, said he ordered their deportation after the police had finished recording their particulars.
Mr Arop advised foreigners coming to Uganda to get authorisation from the relevant authorities.
He said those aiding illegal entry of foreigners into Uganda would be prosecuted.
