The shutdown will be extended to next week on Tuesday to enable system maintenance, according to Ministry of Internal Affairs spokesperson, Simon Mundeyi.
The sudden halt of operations will see hundreds of applicants miss their appointments between Friday and Tuesday as earlier scheduled by the passport control office officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs headquarters on Old Port Bell Road in Kampala.
Mundeyi said those with appointments will be attended to next week.
There was a temporary shutdown of operations caused by a connectivity glitch in April last year.
“We apologise for the inconveniences caused. Our staff are dedicated to serve all our clients to the last,” a tweet from the directorate indicated.
The Government last year phased out the machine-readable passports and replaced them with the International East African e-passports. The Ugandan East African e-passport was launched in 2018.
A two-year transition period followed to allow the phasing out of machine-readable passport to e-passports.
There were complaints last year about the delay in issuing passports.
The Deputy Speaker, Thomas Teyebwa, tasked the Minister of Internal Affairs, Kahinda Otafiire, to explain the delays in processing of the new electronic passports.
“Minister, you should make a statement tomorrow [Wednesday]. You should also explain the rationale behind payment for renewal of passports,” Tayebwa said.
He gave the directive following a matter of national importance raised by Nakawa Division East Member of Parliament Ronald Balimwezo, during plenary sitting on Tuesday, 20 September 2022.
Balimwezo said that since introduction of the e-passports, applicants are subjected to waiting periods of over three months before their travel documents are issued.