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DCIC Warns of Burning Over 42,000 Unclaimed Passports Worth Shs 10.5 Billion
The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC) at the Ministry of Internal Affairs has issued a public warning to passport applicants to collect their unclaimed documents, or risk them being destroyed by fire. Currently, over 42,000 passports — valued at more than Shs 10.5 billion — lie uncollected at DCIC offices across the country.
According to Simon Peter Mundeyi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, this comes less than a year after the DCIC burned more than 60,000 unclaimed passports, collectively worth Shs 15.5 billion, following prolonged abandonment.
“We now have more than 42,000 unclaimed passports. These passports have continued to pile up even after we destroyed 62,000. We appeal to Ugandans to come and pick them,” Mundeyi urged.
The vast majority, over 97% of these unclaimed passports, are ordinary passports, each costing Shs 250,000. Despite automated reminders sent via SMS to applicants, the documents remain unclaimed at DCIC offices in Kyambogo, Mbale, Mbarara, Jinja, Fort Portal, Hoima, Masindi, Arua, Masaka, and Lira.
The wave of uncollected passports is deeply tied to the collapse of international job recruitment prospects, particularly in the Middle East and Europe, and the rise in fraudulent recruitment schemes that have shattered the hopes of many job-seeking Ugandans.
According to DCIC, many applicants were driven to apply for passports after being promised employment abroad — particularly in Canada, the UK, the US, Israel, and Ukraine by both genuine and fraudulent recruitment agencies.
Some recruitment agencies were hit hard by policy shifts, such as Saudi Arabia’s temporary suspension of labour recruitment last year. Others collapsed during the COVID-19 lockdowns, leading to lost job opportunities, and applicants, discouraged, chose not to collect their passports.
Fraudsters have also played a devastating role. Recently, Christian Asiimwe, also known as Don Chris, was accused of defrauding over 350 Ugandans of Shs 1.4 billion, promising overseas jobs through a fake company named Skypins. He reportedly fled the country in June via the Busia border and remains at large, according to Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango.
In a separate case, Jackline Mbulateire and Andrew Sekimuli were implicated in another scam involving Shs 940 million extracted from desperate job seekers who were promised opportunities in Israel. Other victims were duped into applying for jobs in war-torn regions like Ukraine and Russia.
Mundeyi emphasised that despite continued public awareness efforts, the issue of uncollected passports persists. He called on all applicants — especially those who were scammed by fake recruitment agencies — to reclaim their documents and report fraudulent recruiters to the authorities.
“Some Ugandans lost hope after being conned, but that should not stop them from collecting their passports. These are official travel documents that could be needed in the future,” Mundeyi advised.
With DCIC storage facilities overwhelmed and little progress in collection rates, the Ministry is left with no option but to burn the documents, a process that not only wastes public resources but highlights broader issues of digital illiteracy, misinformation, and recruitment fraud.
As the Ministry prepares for another round of destruction, the message is clear: claim your passport, protect your investment, and be vigilant against fake opportunities abroad.
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