Security has intercepted 24 Burundians in Mpigi district. The group was intercepted last Thursday at around 10 p.m. by traffic officers at Katonga Checkpoint in Kayabwe Town Council, Mpigi district.
The police say the officers impounded a taxi, Reg No. UBM 711K (Drone, grey in colour) on overloading charges as it was carrying excess passengers, 26 in number (including the driver).
They included 24 Burundians: one female and two Ugandans (a driver and a conductor).
“Through our investigations, we were able to establish that the 24 Burundians came from various villages and provinces in Burundi for casual work in Uganda and that they paid $300,000 to Mafaranga to Iteka service and Platinum bus, which they boarded at different intervals from Burundi via Tanzania, and the payment was specifically from Ngoli to Kampala,” police said.
According to the police, due to their fear of being arrested by security at the Mutukula border, they boarded the bus about 3 kilometers from the border.
“The bus operators connected them to a male Burundian known to them (by appearance) who led them through ‘panya’ routes to a tree plantation which is near Mutukula boarder.
The same male Burundian connected them to the operators of a Ugandan taxi Reg No. UBM 711K to drive them up to Wakiso – Kampala,” said the police.
The tax operators have been identified as Katamba Yasin, the taxi driver and a resident of Pungwe village, Mukungwe sub-county in Masaka city, and Ssali Haruna, a taxi conductor. He is a resident of Kabawo zone, Mutukula Town Council in Kyotera district.
The Burundians are being held at Mpigi CPS to assist with investigations, while the taxi drivers will be charged with human trafficking.
The police said that the group was being smuggled in as casual workers, some come as visitors on busy visas, and others cross through Uganda to other destinations.
“When they come, they are employed as bar attendants or waitresses, dancers for Karaoke, and sex workers,” said the police.