KAMPALA, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- Uganda will, starting early next year, issue e-passports phasing out the traditional travel document in a bid to meet a regional deadline, a senior government official said on Monday.

Jacob Siminyu, the ministry of internal affairs spokesperson told Xinhua by telephone that electronic machine-readable travel documents or e-passports will have advanced security features.

"With the e-passport personalized, citizens leaving or entering the country can freely do so without necessarily interacting with immigration officers. The government of Uganda will soon be installing automated e-gates at Entebbe International Airport," Siminyu said.

He said old passports will continue to be used by citizens for a transition period of two years until January 2021.

According to the internal affairs ministry, the e-passport will have biometric features that can identify the passport with the genuine owner.

The e-passport also limits chances of forgery of biometric information stored in the passport by fraudsters.

Other countries in the East African region such as Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi are already issuing e-passports.

The region set December 2018 as the deadline when countries are expected to issue electronic passports to their citizens.