An increasing number of Ugandans are turning to impersonation to beat immigration security to reach the United Kingdom or America hoping to get a better life there.
Herman Owomugisha, the Commandant Entebbe Airport police, says his office registers at least 10 impersonation cases per month, majority of the culprits are people trying to sneak out using other people's passports.
Owomugisha says most of the passports used in the scam are usually reported as stolen by the true owners. He says the people trying to use these passports have little knowledge about the owners.
Police investigations show that it's a common practice for owners of passports who are abroad to mail their passports back home to be used by their look-alike relatives to enter the UK or America.
However he added that when the people they sent the passports are arrested they hurry to police and report theft of their passports fearing to be linked to the crime.
Eunice Kisembo, the Immigration spokesperson, explains that machine-readable passports have made photo-substitution difficult, and people were turning to other means to beat security at border points.
Kisembo says the directorate works with Interpol and Directorate of Criminal Investigations to trace the stolen passport.
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According to Herman Owomugisha, cases of impersonation are more pronounced among the Somali, Iraqi and Chinese communities.
Owomugisha added that there were also cases of Ugandans with genuine passports bearing fake visas to either UK or America.
