A total of 25 Burundi nationals have been arrested and detained at Mpigi Central Police Station (CPS) for illegal entry into Uganda.
ACP Nabakka Clair, the Deputy police spokesperson, said that the suspects, one of whom was a female, were intercepted by traffic officers at the Katonga checkpoint in Kayabwe town council, Mpigi district.
“On the 29th of December 2022, at around 1000 c, traffic officers at Katonga Checkpoint in Kayabwe Town Council in Mpigi District impounded a taxi, registration number UBM 711K (Drone, grey in color), on overloading charges as it was carrying excess passengers, 26 in number (including the driver).They included 24 Burundians and two Ugandans (a driver and a conductor),” she stated.
The taxi driver was identified as Katamba Yasin, a resident of Pungwe village in Mukungwe sub-county in Masaka city, and his conductor was identified as Ssali Haruna from Kabawo zone, Mutukula Town Council in Kyotera district. They operate from Mutukula-Kyotera district to Kampala.
She stated that according to investigations by the police, it was established that the 24 Burudians came from different villages and provinces in Burundi for casual work in Uganda and that they paid 300,000 Mafaranga to Iteka Service and Platinum Bus, which they boarded at different intervals from Burundi via Tanzania, and that the payment was specifically from Ngoli to Kampala.
However, according to Nabakka, due to their fear of being arrested by security at the Mutukula boarder, they boarded the bus about three kilometers from the boarder, and the bus operators connected them to a male Burundian who connected them to the operators of a Ugandan taxi (Reg. No. UBM 711K) to drive them up to Wakiso, near Kampala.
An investigation into the matter has begun, and the taxi operators will be charged with trafficking in persons. She urges the general public to remain vigilant and report such cases.
