Two Cameroonians and a Nigerian Arrested for Allegedly Fraudulent Ugandan Passport Acquisition
The Ministry of Internal Affairs detained two Cameroonians and a Nigerian for allegedly attempting to acquire Ugandan passports through fraud. The suspects, identified as Saha Cruz Imaneke (alias Kato Cruz), Saha Urikoyuwi (alias Alex Wasswa), and Rahman Adam (alias Makenge Adam), used fake national identity cards to pose as Ugandans.
The internal affairs ministry says it is holding two Cameroonians and a Nigerian over the alleged attempt to acquire Ugandan passports.
Ministry spokesperson Simon Mundeyi says the suspects managed to commit the offence after fraudulently acquiring national identity cards to pass off as Ugandans.
He identified the Cameroonians as Saha Cruz Imaneke, who he says had changed his name to Kato Cruz and his compatriot to Saha Urikoyuwi.
He noted that by the time of his arrest, Urikoyuwi was passing off as Alex Wasswa.
“They were purporting to be Baganda who are twins but none could understand a single word in the Luganda language” he said.
The revelations were made during the weekly joint security briefing at the Uganda Police Force headquarters at Naguru in Kampala on Monday, August 19, 2024.
According to Mundeyi, their investigations indicated that the Nigerian, whose real name is Rahman Adam, had changed his name to Makenge Adam, to pass off as a Mufumbira, from Western Uganda.
“When we searched him, we found that he also has his passport from Nigeria in his bag and his National Identity card from the same country,” he said.
Although their motive is still unknown, officials believe the suspects were intent on using the travel documents in illicit business activities, including trafficking drugs.
According to Mundeyi, the suspects have confessed to each paying sh10m to Ugandans (names withheld) to acquire the passports.
“We urge those who may be attempting to forge Ugandan travel documents to know that the Government has tightened the system and it is now very risky to do so, ” he said, noting that the shift from the ordinary to electronic passports has greatly enhanced security features of Ugandan passports, making them difficult to counterfeit.
He said that is why the criminals have resorted to acquiring the Ugandan national ID first using aliases, hoping that the Immigration Office will duped.
