Deputy Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, said Nambala has failed to present the owners she claims she was taking for a trip in Turkey. Unless she produces the owners, security agencies have vowed to keep her in custody as a file of human trafficking is being prepared.
Amelia Nambala. Courtsey photo
External
Security Organisation–ESO and the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence –CMI
have joined the probe of local singer, Ameria Nambala, who was found in possession
of 48 passports whose owners cannot be traced.
The artist was arrested from
Sheraton Hotel in Kampala on Friday by plain-clothed security personnel from the
Special Forces Command and Internal Security Organisations in possession of 48
passports for Ugandan females.
Now, Crime intelligence and investigators at Kampala Central Police Station
–CPS where Nambala is being held since Friday, says CMI and ESO have joined the
probe purposely to establish where the owners of the passports are.
The Deputy
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson, Luke Owoyesigyire, says Nambala has
failed to present the owners of the passports she claims she was taking for a
trip to Turkey. Security agencies have vowed to keep her in custody as a file
of human trafficking is being prepared unless she produces the owners of the
passports.
“We have asked her to produce the owners but she seems not to know where they
are. These are genuine passports and owners must be produced. We must know
whether something wrong was done about them or not. We opened a file on SD
58/19/2/2021,” Owoyesigyire said.
According to security sources, the suspect would have been
slapped with charges of forgery if the passports were fake. The investigators
have so preferred charges related to human trafficking, which can change at any
time should security agencies establish that anything wrong was done to the owners.
“We are four security agencies in this case and we have orders to ensure we
establish what happened to all the 48 people. You can’t be taking people for a
trip and you fail to account for them,” a security source said.
Police sources
have revealed that they received intelligence information on Thursday evening
that a woman was in possession of several passports belonging to different
individuals for unknown reasons.
Earlier information indicated that the suspect was going to
meet the passport owners at Kampala Serena Hotel. But the phone signals
switched to Nile Avenue where the Sheraton hotel is located. A team was hastily
sent to Sheraton where she was arrested alongside her colleague, Esther
Nassali.
“We suspect these passports were stolen from owners or they were confiscated
from people smuggled out of the country. We also have reason to suspects that
owners could have died. All these investigation lines can be ruled out only if
these suspects show us the owners,” an intelligence officer said.
Crime records at CPS have revealed that Nambala was arrested in August 2019
over allegations of fraud. At that time, she was dragged to CPS by Andrew
Sekandi, accusing her of defrauding him Shillings 7 million according to a
statement that was recorded vide police file 30/09/08/2019.
Sekandi alleged that Nambala had approached him claiming
that she was taking people for jobs in Sweden. Sekandi said Nambala charged him
Shillings 7 million to secure Visas for the children but she didn’t fulfil her
promise.
One of the most popular songs sang by Nambala is Kabila Kange, a love song where she warns women to dare not tamper with her husband. The song is commonly played at traditional functions such as weddings because of its traditional Luganda beats known as Enggoma Uganda.
Senior Staff Reporter
Mr Joseph Kato graduated with a Master's Degree of Art in Journalism & Communication on February 02, 2024 at Makerere University. He holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Journalism and Media Studies which he attained in 2023 at Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway.
Mr Kato holds a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication from Kampala International University. The Master's Degree studies and a decade of journalism practice have enabled Mr Kato to be one of the reliable researchers in areas of conflict, r