Private medical facilities in Mukono District are in the spotlight over issuing fake Covid-19 test certificates to the people who intend to travel out the country, more so those who want to go to Arab countries for work.
Recently, more than 40 Ugandan women, who were scheduled to travel to Saudi Arabia, were denied from proceeding over fake COVID-19 certificates, according to Mr Emmanuel Ainebyona, the spokesman for the Ministry of Health. He confirmed that the certificates found with those women were fake.
Led by Prima Kalungi, the security team first got permission from the plane crew before making the arrest.
Kalungi said the women, who were on board the plane at the Entebbe International Airport, had been recruited to go and work as housemaids in Saudi Arabia.
Ms Esther Namboowa on September 24, 2021, also missed her flight to Dubai and her ticket was cancelled after reaching Entebbe airport and the officer told her that her test certificate was fake, even though the facility which issued that certificate was not recognised by the Health ministry.
Namboowa narrated that a day before her trip, she went to Green Cottage Clinic in Mukono District for a Covid-19 test where she paid She70,000. Instead of conducting a PCR, Dr Brian Ssebunya used Nasal Pharyngeal of Antigen which she knew was not recommended by the Health ministry.
She added that on reaching the airport, she had to first get another rapid PCR test at Safari Lab, which she thought would enable her travel in vain.
“People who were checking the travel document told me to leave the line, pick my stuff and go back home because the certificate was fake,” she said.
She added: “After telling me that my certificate is fake, I felt like fainting because I spent almost Shs3 million on the paperwork, transport, medication plus the air ticket and I was left with nothing.”
When she returned to Mukono, she decided to go back to the facility that gave her a fake Covid-19 certificate test and that she was only compasented with the money she paid for the test. Dr Ssebunya, who carried out the test, said that he was not the one to be blamed.
“It is unfortunate that she was bounced off the flight. But she is also to blame because she came late to our facility to be tested,” he said.
Namboowa tried to go back to the company which issued her the air ticket and they told her that the little they could do was for her to re-book at a small fee. She, however, gave up because she had run out of money.
The District Health Officer, Dr Steven Mulindwa, encouraged people to only undertake these tests from authorised health facilities that have been listed by the Ministry of health.
“Those are the only centers where people should undertake tests,” he said.
He also warned people to distance themselves from the unauthorised private facilities because in Mukono District, they have only three private hospitals they are dealing with and that others are doing it illegally.
Few months ago, Uganda’s aviation health authorities arrested 24 travelers with fake COVID-19 certificates at Entebbe International Airport. According to Mr Vianney Luggya, the communications officer of Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, the passengers were arrested after presenting forged Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test certificates while checking in.
“They were identified to have tampered with their PCR certificates. They were handed to the aviation police to investigate the circumstances under which they obtained these forged certificates, with the view of charging them for any offenses they may have violated,” Mr Luggya said.
He added: “We urge the public to desist from attempting to forge PCR test certificates because there is a clear mechanism in place at the airport to verify whether the certificate is genuine or fake.”
Uganda resumed phased commercial flight operations at Entebbe International Airport, about 40km south of the capital Kampala on October 1, 2020, strictly requiring all travelers to provide a negative test result for Covid-19, 72 hours before traveling or arriving in the country.
“We encourage them (departing travelers) to only undertake these tests from authorised health facilities that have been listed by the Ministry of Health. Those are the only centers that people traveling out of the country should undertake tests from,” Mr Luggya noted.
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