Angry And Bitter Ugandan Travelers Expose Entebbe Airport Corrupt Aviation Officials Via Social Media, Parliament Responds.

Ugandans took to TikTok to expose alleged corruption at the Entebbe International Airport, with the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCVAA) saying it was taking the “regrettable” matter seriously.

In the videos, travelers complain about extortionist tendencies by airport officials.  The videos have since led to Twitter posts in which travelers recount their encounters with corrupt airport officials.

The allegations range from immigration officials disputing documents to tampering with travellers’ luggage.

In some cases, travellers said that, if they were unable to pay a bribe, they would miss flights and, as such, had no choice but to re-book.

This alleged corruption happened, despite the airport having cameras in all strategic places.

In a statement, responding to the latest allegations, UCVAA said it had reached out to numerous TikTok users for assistance in cracking down on the alleged corruption.

UCVAA facilitates operations at the Entebbe International Airport, where numerous government arms, such as immigration-contracted handling agents, and ministry of health and state security agents, play different roles.

The alleged bribes range from at least US$100 (about R1 700), depending on circumstances.

UCVAA wants the public to come forward because “none of the regurgitated videos specifically states a particular checkpoint, time, day and flight details of where the alleged extortion might have taken place”.

But to avoid the public from giving in to the corruption, UCVAA said that at no point should travellers be “lured or compelled into paying money to any staff they interface in the course of their travel through Entebbe International Airport”.

Uganda is the 144th least corrupt nation out of 180 countries, according to the 2021 Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International.