“Some of those immigration officers denied my grandmother, Kaka Bella, an ID. Can you believe it? They are going to jail!!” he stated.
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A fresh wave of changes has swept through Uganda’s immigration leadership, following the recall of two senior military officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
The Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) has withdrawn Brig. Gen. Gowa and Brig. Gen. Johnson Namanya Abaho from their roles at the Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control (DCIC), just days after Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba publicly ordered a sweeping overhaul of immigration personnel.
The two brigadiers, who were seconded to immigration in 2021 at a time of heightened border vigilance and citizenship verification reforms, confirmed their departure in an internal memo circulated to staff.
“Be informed that myself and Brig. Johnson Namanya Abaho’s tour of duty in the Ministry of Internal Affairs has come to an end, and we shall be returning to Defence headquarters for other assignments. I thank you all for the opportunity to have worked with you,” the memo reads.
Their recall follows a series of strongly worded public statements by Gen. Muhoozi, who announced on X that he had ordered the immediate removal of immigration officers accused of frustrating Ugandans — particularly members of the Banyarwanda community — in their attempts to obtain national identity documents.
“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.
In a subsequent post, the army chief escalated the matter further, alleging that officials had denied identification documents to a member of his own family.
“Some of those immigration officers denied my grandmother, Kaka Bella, an ID. Can you believe it? They are going to jail!!” he stated.
While the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs has not formally linked the brigadiers’ redeployment to Muhoozi’s directive, the timing has fueled speculation that the move forms part of a broader restructuring within immigration.
Brig. Gen. Gowa and Brig. Gen. Namanya were deployed to the DCIC in 2021 as part of government efforts to tighten oversight of passport issuance, border management and citizenship verification processes. Their tenure coincided with stricter vetting measures and increased scrutiny of national ID applications, particularly among communities with cross-border heritage.
The Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control operates under the Ministry of Internal Affairs and works closely with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) in processing national IDs and passports. These documents are essential for voting, banking, land transactions, SIM card registration and access to public services.
The latest developments have once again placed the spotlight on the delicate balance between national security safeguards and citizens’ access to identification documents — an issue that remains politically sensitive in Uganda.
As of press time, no official statement had been issued naming replacements for the recalled officers or clarifying whether formal investigations into specific immigration officials are underway.
The recall marks one of the most high-profile personnel changes within Immigration since the 2021 security-led reforms and signals potential shifts in the management of Uganda’s citizenship and border administration systems.