Why Uganda should embrace e-Passport

Uganda is set to introduce an e-Passport to replace and eventually phase out the current machine-readable passports. However, there are sections of the public who are raising questions on the application process, its looks, why the e-Passport, how people in the diaspora will apply, among others. Permit me to comment on some of these issues for now, but we shall continue to inform the public about this subject.

The application process will be nearly the same as the old one, except you will require your national ID or NIN. Ugandans in the diaspora will continue submitting their applications for the e-Passport manually through our Missions abroad until we establish personalisation centres in the missions. New application forms will be posted and availed on the websites of Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (www.immigration.go.ug), the Ministry of Internal Affairs (www.mia.go.ug), and in all Uganda Missions by January, 2019.

The new e-passport is not a Smart Card as some people seem to imply, it is a physical passport and it will be presented in the following colours: Sky Blue (ordinary passport), Green (service passport) and Red (diplomatic Passport).

Those who intend to renew their passport but have valid visas in their old passport need not worry. The old passport will only be cancelled and returned to the holder like we have normally done and all current visas will remain valid. The new and old passports can be held together if you intend to use visas in the old passport.

A passport is a conditional service with a warning at the back indicating that it is held in the name of the President of the Republic of Uganda and that it remains a property of the Republic of Uganda, and may be withdrawn at any time by government.

A two-year transitional period to allow for a gradual phase out of the current passport has been provided by government. The transitional period is scheduled to run from January 2019. During the transitional period, all citizens with valid passports will continue to use them alongside the new EAC e-passport for international travel until January 2021.

This means effective February 1, 2021, only the new e-Passport will be valid for International travel. This is in line with the 17th Summit directive of the EAC heads of State who proposed a transitional period of two years. Giving citizens such a period is also a standard international practice for changing travel documents. Other countries in the region like Kenya also gave its nationals two years of transition.

The transitional period of two years is meant to protect citizens rather than defraud them. Experience from other countries which chose to use both the new and old passport concurrently until the old ones freely expired shows that airlines and embassies prefer to deal with persons who can properly be identified with a secure travel document and the e-Passport is most secure and preferred. Eventually, holders of the old passport were referred back to get the new secure document. This defeated the purpose of leaving the old passports to continue being used alongside the new one. Issuance of a notice indicating that the two passports will be used concurrently within the period of two years means that the citizens can now use their passports for the two years.

On the travel document, in addition to the electromagnetic chip, the e-Passport will have more security features of significant national importance to Uganda, which include the Coat of Arms, the Crested Crane, the Mountain Gorilla, the Independence Monument, Murchison Falls and a Fisherman. It is these features that make the new EAC e-Passport suitable to use e-gates for self-clearance; easy and automated issuance of boarding passes; quick passenger processing worldwide; and full compliance with international security standards. These features make the new e-Passport more secure and, therefore, come with additional cost.

The cost of the new e-Passport Ordinary Passport (48 Pages) will be Shs250,000 and this is Shs100,000 more than the old passport which cost Shs150,000. However, our e-Passport is cheaper compared with some countries in the region. The Kenyan ordinary e-Passport (48 Pages) at KShs7500 or Shs262,500) is more expensive by Shs12,500 and the Burundian e-Passport at $200 is three times the price of the Ugandan passport.

Ugandans are, therefore, called upon to embrace this new EAC e-Passport as we join the rest of EAC and the world in benefiting from the enhanced features and services of the e-Passport because we need it as a county.

The author is the spokesperson Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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