A CAMPAIGNER has accused the Home Office of institutional racism after an award-winning Ugandan actress who was due to appear at the Edinburgh Festival was denied a visa to enter the UK.

Rev Dr George Hargreaves, founder of the Scottish Christian Party, said that the border agency was "out of control" after it denied Nisha Kalema permission to enter the country and perform on stage.

Ms Kalema, dubbed the ‘queen of the Ugandan screen’, was set to take part in a live-action version of the film 'Freedom', based on her screenplay. The play has now been cancelled.

Her application for entry to the country was supported by both the Edinburgh Fringe Society and the Just Festival group.

But Immigration officials said she could not come to the UK on a six-month visa as they were "not satisfied" she would leave or could meet the cost of her journey home.

Rev Hargreaves said: "Dr Hargreaves stated, “I think that the UK Visas & Immigration department is out of control. This is standard refusal jargon that I have seen before, which assumes, as a default position, that Africans are liars, desperate to live in ‘paradise’ Britain.

"This is outrageous and clearly racist And Scotland has been implicated in the infamy by association.”

In documents setting out the reasons for refusal, an unnamed UK Visa & Immigration said that they were "unable to determine why you [Ms Kalima] have chosen to attend this event on this occasion."

The officer also stated: "On the evidence before me on the balance of probabilities, I am not satisfied that you are genuinely seeking entry as a visitor for a limited period as stated by you, not exceeding 6 months, nor am I satisfied that you intend to leave the United Kingdom at the end of the period of the visit as stated by you.

Nor am I satisfied that you will be adequately maintained and accommodated in the United Kingdom or that you can meet the cost of your onward journey."

Ms Kalema, whose trip to the Edinburgh Fringe has been sponsored by the Ugandan government, expressed disbelief at the reasons for the refusal and believes that officials did not properly review her file.

For the past two years she has received the Best Actress award at the Uganda Film Festival, and has been nominated for this year’s Most Popular Actress prize by viewers of Uganda’s Delta TV. Her film, Freedom, picked up six awards at the 2016 Uganda Film Festival, including Best Picture.

The actress said: "The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the biggest arts festival in the world. Why wouldn’t I want to attend, having been invited. I am not an artist? The only supporting document that I was obliged to submit for a UK visa was my Ugandan passport.

"Whilst it was suggested that other documents might help if submitted, they were not mandatory and there was no suggestion that not submitting them would lead to a refusal as has now been the case.

"I did submit documents relevant to my status as a performing artist. It appears to me that Entry Clearance Officer either did not go through my file properly, where he or she would have found award certificates, press cuttings and publicity material for my performance at the Edinburgh Fringe; or there is another agenda at work.”

Her case echoes that Syrian minister Rev Rola Sleiman, who was denied a visa to travel to Edinburgh and attend the Church of Scotland's General Assembly earlier this year.

On that occasion officials relented, and she was eventually given permission to enter the UK.

A Home Office spokesman said: “These allegations are completely untrue.

“All visa applications, regardless of where they are from, are considered on their individual merits and in line with the Immigration Rules.”