Although the National Coordination Bureau (NCB) of the International Crime Police located in Mabua Road of Kololo is a very busy office, most of the clients on any given day are there to seek certificates of good conduct to present to their (mostly foreign) prospective employers. So many are these clients that even the small fee of about sh70,000 they pay translates into well over a billion shillings for the Treasury in a year.
Ugandans already know about Interpol’s work from the results attained in combating crimes like smuggling of stolen motor vehicles, apprehending drug traffickers, fighting human trafficking and the war on terrorism.
But the simple truth is that Interpol in Uganda can also provide even more information about foreign entities to Ugandans who intend to operate outside the country for business, run consultancies or simply go out as workers. Even different government agencies are not fully utilizing the services of Interpol and end up spending a lot of the country’s limited resources on fact finding trips abroad – Yet Interpol could have gotten them the facts virtually free, more reliably and quickly.
So while the Uganda NCB processes a lot of information and coordinates with Law Enforcement Agencies in other countries to prevent crime and apprehend criminals, the Ugandan public and government can yet benefit a lot more by seeking information through Interpol, which has the networks to provide the information if legitimately sought. For example, thousands of young (and not-so-young) people are constantly seeking employment outside the country. Almost all of them go without knowing the credibility of the organizations taking them, those going to employ them and how to get assistance should things go wrong out there. Little wonder that some, actually many, end up in slave-like conditions and sometimes even death occurs. The police therefore encourages intending travelers and even public agencies to seek information about their foreign correspondents and contacts from the Interpol office – reliable information can be procured there!
The national coordination bureau of Interpol in Uganda is a directorate of the Uganda Police Force and has an organizational structure headed by the Director, Assistant Inspector General of Police Asen Kasingye. The NCB has the authority to initiate legitimate enquiries at all times. Allowing a few days to get reliable information through Interpol can therefore save you a lot of money that you could lose to unscrupulous dealers abroad. It could also save life.
