The Ministry of Internal Affairs has confirmed the recall of two senior officers from its immigration directorate by the UPDF.
Internal Affairs spokesperson, Simon Mundeyi said on Monday that Maj Gen Apollo Kasita Goowa who has been serving as director citizenship and immigration control as well as Brig Johnson Namanya who has been serving as commissioner for citizneship and passport control at the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control had been recalled by the UPDF.
“These two were last week directed to report back to UPDF headquarters. This marks end of their tour of duty at the Directorate of the Citizenship and Immigration Control,” Mundeyi said.
He applauded the two senior officers for streamlining citizenship, immigration and passport operations in the ministry.
“Work continues normally. Passport operations, visa applications, legal and compliance inspections are going on smoothly,” he said.
The development comes on the backdrop of a comment by the Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba about streamlining the directorate of citizenship and immigration control recently .
In a social media post, Gen Muhoozi said he had ordered the immediate removal of immigration officers accused of obstructing Ugandan citizens of Banyarwanda origin from obtaining national identity cards, igniting widespread public discussion and reactions on social media.
He said the officers had been “making life hard” for Ugandan-Banyarwanda seeking identification documents and directed that they be replaced.
“I have decided to remove all the officers in immigration that were making life hard for our Ugandan-Banyarwanda to get IDs immediately. Others will be appointed soon,” he wrote.
He further cited a case involving his grandmother, identified as Kaka Bella, who was allegedly denied a national ID.
He described the incident as unacceptable and warned that those implicated would face legal consequences.
The Banyarwanda are recognised as Uganda’s 24th indigenous community under the 1995 Constitution, but members of the Abavandimwe group have long complained of systemic discrimination by NIRA and the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC), particularly during passport and national ID application processes.
In January 2025, President Museveni issued an Executive Order aimed at addressing these concerns, directing immigration officials to presume citizenship unless credible evidence suggests otherwise and prohibiting the confiscation of national IDs without due process.
