Amelia Nambala, a Ugandan singer is currently in police custody after she was arrested at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel over the suspicion of human trafficking.

The musician was intercepted at the five-star hotel after scanners at the checkpoint detected suspicious items in her bag. The items included 48 passports, which were very suspicious to be in an individual’s possession. The deputy police spokesperson Luke Owoyesigire stated that the owners of the 48 passports who she can't trace was in the process of flying to Turkey for a trip.

“As of now, we are holding her on charges of being in possession of suspected stolen passports but we shall also investigate human trafficking if she fails to account for the passports,” Mr. Owoyesigire said.

"Since all the passports are in the names of women/girls, we cannot disclose their identities because we now treat them as victims but the passports are now police exhibits that shall be used in court as evidence,” Mr. Owoyesigire added.

The deputy police spokesperson also revealed that police arrested another suspect, Ester Nassali, who was in company with Nambala.

Nambala also told police in a statement that she was in the process of flying the owners of the passports to Turkey for a trip. She did not give details of the trip. The crime intelligence and investigators stated that the probe had been broadened and would include more government agencies to assist in the case.

Human trafficking According to the annual crime report for police, a total number of 120 incidents related to trafficking persons were registered in the year 2019 compared to 286 in 2018, giving a 32.8 percent decrease. Incidents of internal trafficking were 30 while incidents of transnational trafficking were 90.

This is not the first time the singer has been involved with the police. In 2019, Nambala appeared before detectives at Central Police Station to respond to fraud allegations after she defrauded one Sekandi of Shs7 million to secure Swedish Visas for his children and did not fulfill her promise.