Maj. Gen. Kahinda Otafiire the Internal Affairs Senior Minister has confirmed that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has picked interest in allegations of Human trafficking and directed gen. Otafire to lead investigations into allegations that there is a group of people including police officers involved in and facilitating human trafficking of desperate Ugandans.
Otafiire revealed that investigations will be expanded not only to police officers but other Ugandans especially politicians since preliminary investigation have shown that they are the biggest beneficiaries from the vice.
Highly placed Security sources told TV10GanoMazima that Museveni was briefed that a number of people connive with police officers who fake their arrests, undress and handcuff them and place them in police cells where they take their photos and record them on video crying for help.
This is presented as evidence of torture from Museveni’s government because of their support for the opposition.
Sources divulged that police officers not only stop at faking arrests and detention, they also fake police references and police bond papers showing that the said person has pending criminal charges in Uganda.
After getting police support, the said Ugandans connive with the opposition political parties especially National Unity Platform (NUP) who give them recommendation letters after paying some money which they use as evidence when they are applying for visas and other travel documents to go and seek political asylum in European countries, America and Canada among others.
Museveni was briefed that currently, Uganda is one of the leading countries when it comes to people asking for asylum based on hostile politics back home.
“The situation these police officers created in connivance with asylum seekers placed President Museveni’s government in bad light because it shows that Ugandans are not happy with his leadership and he is using a high hand to lead them,” a source said.
Maj. Gen. Otafiire also confirmed that human trafficking of Ugandans gives Uganda a bad name on the international scene and it is going to become very difficult for serious Ugandans who want to travel abroad for education, medication, research to be given documents to travel in those countries because of fears that they will disappear in those countries.
During the briefing, Museveni was given a detailed report narrating how former CBS radio presenter and comedian Patrick Mujuuka connived with police officers to get documents he used to secure a visa that helped him to go to the United States of America.
Sources claim that Museveni was told that Mujuuka alleged that his life was in danger because Museveni’s government wanted to finish him for being a staunch supporter who uses his radio position to promote National Unity Platform (NUP) and former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (Bobi Wine).
“The explanation and documents helped him to get an interim stay in the United States and he is getting good money through doing a number of jobs,” a source said.
However, other sources at CBS radio said that Mujuuka decided to run to the United States because his job at CBS was threatened so he had to plan early before being fired permanently.
The issue of trafficking Ugandans comes at a time when former NUP Chief moblizer Sulaiman Kidandala is holed up in South Korea facing charges of trafficking Ugandans into South Korea. If convicted, he is likely to be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
There is also a group of concerned citizens who petitioned the Canadian Premier Justine Trudeau to review the application filed by Ugandans who seek asylum based on political persecution claiming that many of the applications were based on false grounds.
Senior presidential advisor on media Joseph Tamale Mirundi also twisted the issue of human trafficking revealing that majority of Ugandans taken for greener pastures are sold to business people in different countries so that their internal organs are harvested and sold at a high price.
He revealed that Museveni is also investigating allegations that powerful people in his government in involved.
He explained that Museveni is going to be very tough on people who are trafficking Ugandans because for the last one year, he is on the drive of cleaning his name.
Such allegations have resulted into sanctioning of top government officials by United States, Canada, United Kingdom and other European countries.
Minister Otafiire said that the long arm of the law will catch any one involved in human trafficking of Ugandans and police officers will be expelled from the force with disgrace.
However, shadow foreign affairs Minister Muwada Nkunyingi rubbished Otafiire’s allegation that NUP is involved in human trafficking. He threatened that very soon, he will table on the floor of parliament the names of powerful government officials involved in the said crime.
He further explained that those government officials hide under labour exporting companies to traffic Ugandans and sell them into slavery abroad.
Ronald Muwenda Mutebi the Kabaka of Buganda recently warned youths to be very careful with people who entice them with ideas of going abroad to work.
The King warned that some of these people harbor bad intentions against them because they are only looking at how they can financially benefit from them.
