TRAVEL TO UGANDA — ADVICE

Why We Were Detained by the Police in Uganda, and How We Got Out Of It

It was past 2am. KB and I took a boda boda (motorbike taxi in Uganda) back to the center of Kampala after watching a movie in a strip mall.

The driver decided to drop us off two blocks away from our hotel. We didn’t complain, for it was a pleasant night to take a stroll.

As we passed by a police outpost on the way to the hotel, a seemingly friendly officer greeted us and wanted to have a chat.

The interrogation

“I want to have a white woman too,” the officer said to KB, my Ugandan boyfriend at the time.

I am Asian. But in Uganda, if you are not black, you are referred to as white.

“How did you meet?” the officer continued with more questions.

“Online” and “through his father,” KB and I answered simultaneously.

The truth was, I got an e-invite to volunteer at a charitable organization that KB’s father managed (so technically, my answer of us meeting through his father was more accurate).

But the officer didn’t accept our explanation. He said he had a hard time believing what we were saying for there was a big discrepancy in our initial responses.

Screwing up further

The officer then requested to see our IDs.

Sh*t.

We didn’t have them with us. The hotel receptionist kept our IDs for registration and said they would be returned to us when we checked out.

First, we were thought to be lying about how we met, and now, we couldn’t present our IDs.

“You’re in the most dangerous part of Kampala, and you don’t have your IDs, so I can’t let you go.” the officer said in a casual tone.

Gosh. Weren’t we in deep sh*t.

Attempts to get out

Since our hotel was no more than three minutes’ walk away, KB suggested that the officer accompany us to check our IDs there, but he refused.

Then KB gave another option, which was for him to be detained while I went to pick up the IDs. Again, the officer said no. He stressed that he would not allow me to go by myself as it was not a safe neighborhood.

I gave the surroundings a quick scan. The street was empty, and we were the only people in sight. I saw no source of danger.

This was starting to annoy me. The officer rejected every suggestion KB made but wouldn’t offer any viable solution for us to get out of there.

Inside the outpost, there were a few other officers, a local man who was also being interrogated, and a local woman in a detention cell.

It was dark in the cell. I looked at the poor woman and wondered what it would be like if we got locked up too. I hoped it wasn’t dirty and smelly in there.

My safety concerns

As KB and the officer continued going back and forth, they realized they were from the same tribe and started conversing in Orukiga, their native language.

Now, I was even more agitated because I had no clue what they were discussing.

The officer probably noticed the looks on my face, so he switched back to speaking English after a few minutes.

“Madam, you are a guest in our country, and we need to ensure your safety. Haven’t you heard in the news that an American woman got kidnapped in Queen Elizabeth National Park last week? If something were to happen to you, and I didn’t have a record of this man’s ID, it would be my fault,” he once again used my well-being as the focal point.

Okay. I did hear about the American woman being kidnapped, and I appreciated him looking out for my safety. But if all he needed was to see some IDs, then let us go get them!

The true motive

“He just wants money, let me handle it,” KB whispered in my ear.

Ohhh. So this is what this was about!

Not because I was a guest in the country, and it had nothing to do with my safety.

Officer, why did you have to lie? I felt so cheated.

The release

After 30 minutes of drama, KB paid the officer, and we were allowed to leave.

I asked him how much he paid. He said 10,000 shillings.

That was less than US$3.

Now I was mad!

If it was only for three freaking dollars, we should have just given it and left 30 minutes ago so we could go back to the hotel and sleep.

What I didn’t realize was that it only came down to 10,000 shillings after many rounds of negotiations.

Me being ‘white’ was the major reason it got difficult, as generally, the locals assume that white people are rich.

Then the officer tried to get us to pay not only him but also other officers on duty in the outpost, but eventually agreed to just take his share and let us go.

The standard price

KB knew that 10,000 shillings could get us out of there because it was the standard price–at least it was for the locals.

When he was in university, he and his friends had evidence of a classmate stealing from others. They wanted to expose the thief to the whole class, so they made a deal with a police officer to arrest the guy during a lecture so everyone would see it. And the reward for the officer to take action at the specified hour was 10,000 shillings.

Advice to travelers

When visiting a developing country, always keep some small amount banknotes with you, or you may end up having to pay more than necessary.

Unfortunately, I don’t have any advice to prevent you from being detained by the police in Uganda or in any country. However, in situations like ours or when making small purchases, sometimes it’s not easy to get change. So when you receive small amount banknotes, it’s always a good idea to keep some of them just in case and only use the leftovers towards the end of your trip.