URA impounds ambulance with smuggled cigarettes, driver arrested 

The Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) custom officers on Sunday impounded an ambulance which was reportedly carrying smuggled cigarettes in Koboko District.

The ambulance branded UNHCR with Registration number UBD 512X belonging Koboko Hospital was intercepted Sunday morning at URA’s Pakwach check point carrying super match cigarettes and the driver was arrested.

Super match is a common type of cigarette manufactured in Kenya and mostly smuggled into Uganda through the different porous border points.

Mr Simon Tweseigye, the URA manager for Northern Uganda told this publication that the driver of the said ambulance would be arraigned before court.

“We impounded this vehicle on Sunday morning at around 4am with these items, it is unfortunate that this is happening, we currently have the driver and he will appear before court,” he said.

He, however, said the authority is still doing verification to determine the monetary value of the contrabands

“We are verifying the consignments which were impounded in the ambulance which includes the quantities, I will give you the report from our verification,” he added.

When contacted for response on the matter, Mr Abiriga Alionzi, the Koboko Hospital Administrator said he is currently away on leave.

“I was called by the LC5 chairperson to find out whether my ambulances were all at the hospital, so called the person I left behind and he said that he doesn’t know anything about the ambulance going out,” he said.

Mr John Bosco Akera, the Koboko Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) said investigations are underway to ascertain how the ambulance left the hospital without the knowledge of the authorities.

“This vehicle is based at the hospital, the medical superintendent is saying he doesn’t know and so is the coordinator. If this vehicle was kept at the district then I would ask my but we don’t control vehicles especially ambulances. When I came here at pakwach the driver admitted that he didn’t ask anybody but it was a soldier called Okello in Koboko who connected him and he was taking these things to Gulu, we are looking into the matter,” he said.

According Ashiraf Mambo-the Koboko LC5 chairperson, this is not the first time the driver in question has smuggled such contrabands, adding that he [driver] would be sacked.

“As a district we shall also take action to apprehend him and he will lose his position, we cannot tolerate these characters. There are only two functional ambulances and the other has mechanical problems, we have only been depending on this [impounded] one,” he said.

Emmanuel Ainebyoona Ministry of Health spokesperson condemned the act saying action would be taken against the culprits.

“The Koboko District Local Government should take action and as Ministry of Health, we condemn the criminal act of abusing government stores, action will be taken,” he said.

Recently while speaking during the handover of ambulances, Dr Ruth Aceng, the Minister of Health noted that by the end of June 2023, the ambulance gap in Uganda was still high.

Dr Aceng said Uganda needs 430 type B ambulances, which are basic life support ambulances, and 30 type C ambulances which are specialised to boost the emergency services, adding that the country has 135 ambulances that meet the standards with 80 of them at constituencies and 55 at referral hospitals.