How Museveni got sucked into fights for jobs, offers at Uganda Airlines

By Isaac Mufumba

The process of reviving Uganda Airlines has been hit by turmoil caused by massive fighting involving senior management and the board of directors of the national airline and officials from the Ministry of Public Works and Transport.
The groups clashed over jobs, money and multi-million dollar deals involving media and advertising services, kerosene, uniforms and controlling agencies outside Uganda to manage ticket sales for the company.

Sunday Monitor learned that the fighting had started even before August 2019 when the airline launched operations with flights from Entebbe to regional destinations Nairobi, Mombasa (Kenya), Mogadishu (Somalia), Juba (South Sudan). ), Bujumbura (Burundi), Dar es Salaam. and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).

The fighting resulted in the April 28 suspension of the management team, including CEO Cornwell Muleya, CFO Paul Turacayisenga, Marketing Director Rogers Wamala, HR Director Joseph Sebbowa and Security Director Bruno Oringi.
A week later, the seven-member board headed by the former subordinate local government minister, also former Rubanda East MP Perez Ahabwe, was also sent to pack their bags.
Mr. Ahabwe also left Benon Kajuna, Mr. Godfrey Ssemugooma, Ms. Catherine Asinde Poran, Ms. Rehema Mutazindwa, Mr. Charles Hamya and Mr. Stephen Aziku Zua.
The suspensions, Sunday Monitor learned, were imposed by multiple dossiers sent to President Museveni by all interested parties.

Immediately after the suspensions, the former Minister of State for Transport, Ms. Joy Kabatsi, under whose tutelage the airline fell, said she was also taken by surprise.
“I had called the board of directors and the executive director for a meeting, but they didn’t show up. I haven’t heard from them anymore, only to hear what you hear, ”Ms. Kabatsi told Sunday Monitor earlier this month.
Days later, the outgoing Minister of Public Works and Transport, General Edward Katumba Wamala, said the group had been forced to take accumulated leave.

But last Monday, as he addressed MPs after the election of the president and vice-president of parliament, President Museveni revealed that it was on his instructions that the management team and the board of administration had been sent to pack their bags.
“The airline was immediately infiltrated (it was revived) by corrupt elements – employing loved ones, overbudging, inflating supply costs, terrible! Terrible things! When I got the information, I dispersed the whole group, ”Museveni said.
But what terrible things have the management and the board done?

Supply struggles
In his speech on Monday, Mr Museveni simply said that senior executives and board members attempted procurement cost inflation, but if the content of a January 27 report that Mr Muleya had handed over to General Salim Saleh for transmission to the president is something to do, the problem may be much bigger than the president made it appear.

Muleya said some board members lobbied “for the promotion of self-interest” and in other cases colluded with some managers to earn quick money.
“In the area of ​​purchasing in particular, management has witnessed instances where members of the board of directors have met with certain members of the management team in order to find[ing] means of loading invoices and other money-making schemes… This attempted collusion… tended to divide the management team and resulted in inefficiency… ”he wrote.

Publicity

Muleya further pointed out that purchasing officials have colluded with members of the government to fly the airline.
Mr. Ahabwe, the chairman of the board, refused to be drawn into a discussion of the accusations made by Mr. Muleya.

“The merits or the disadvantages of his allegations have been overtaken by events. The president has already suspended us all and opened an investigation. What you are talking about is one of the issues under investigation. If we invoke the principle of sub judice, we will interfere with the investigation, ”he told Sunday Monitor on Friday evening.
Mr Ahabwe, however, revealed that he, along with other board members, wrote to the president and copied the finance and public works and transport ministers, refuting some of the accusations against them.

Sunday Monitor was able to access a copy of the said letter, in which the board explained that the standoff between Mr Muleya and the board was the result of the board’s decision to question the extremely high insurance premiums that the airline paid for insurance. agents.

“The board directed management to present a justification for the high prices paid to contractors, some of which were purchased non-competitively … It is likely that these board inquiries and formal instruction to the management of review the above contracts to be seen as interfering with the procurement process, ”part of the board’s paper reads.

LILY: Uganda Airlines CEO and senior executives suspended

Minister Kabatsi’s case
Two days after announcing the board and management team suspensions, Ms Kabatsi revealed that management was not happy with the airline’s recovery from the lockdown.
“There are problems with the airline. Reports there haven’t been good for a long time. We are not moving as we would have liked. We had to move the planes. Planes must not be parked, ”Ms. Kabatsi said.

Counsel believes, however, that Ms. Kabatsi’s comments were motivated by bad feelings.
“Ms. Kabatsi’s recent outbursts … are derived from the fact that in December 2020, she not only called the CEO to ask for $ 50,000 (around 177 million shillings) to fund her MP campaigns,” but sent her personal assistant in person to the airlines. head office in Entebbe to recover the money of the CEO… ”, continues the document.
Ms Kabatsi denies the accusation, saying she found Mr Muleya very rude and difficult to engage in anything other than work.

“You can only ask when you are friendly. Someone you don’t talk to, how do you ask for money? Ms. Kabatsi asked.
In the same document, board members accused Ms Kabatsi of interfering in the process of recruiting an Ethiopian national, an Abebe, and of trying to stop the process of recruiting a new one. commercial director following the dismissal in October 2019 of Ms. Jennifer Bamuturaki Musiime. for reasons of poor performance and conflict of interest. Ms. Kabatsi also denies it.
“Did I force them to hire him?” I don’t even know the person they’re talking about. We were just looking at the CVs, ”Ms. Kabatsi said.

Media and advertising
One of the main causes of friction has been managing the lucrative media and advertising role, which falls under the office of business managers.
According to the board of directors, management blew up Shs 778,728,483 for accommodating 600 people when the airline received the first Bombardier CRJ900.

The average unit cost of maintaining each guest was Shs 1,297,876, which the board said was excessive.
Most of the money was allegedly swindled by sections of the management team.
More of the cause of the tensions within the airline is expected to come to light upon completion of the ongoing investigation.

Fight for jobs
Sources close to the national airline’s revival have since revealed that senior government officials and highly connected people began lining up their children and loved ones for jobs at the national airline almost immediately after the inaugural address on the 23rd. June 2016 to the new government. The president then ordered the Minister of Public Works, Monica Azuba, to resuscitate the airline.

Sunday Monitor learned that before the airline issued its first announcement in September 2018 to solicit nominations for several posts, a general of the Ugandan People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) handed one of the ministers a list of names of people who he said were qualified to be employed by the airline.
The issue of staff recruitment reportedly became a hot topic of debate, which culminated in Cabinet’s decision to allow the airline to use both headhunting and interviews to hire staff.

However, struggles for employment continued to be a major cause of clashes between senior management and the board of directors.
Mr Muleya alluded to this problem in his report.
“Internally, our concerns about the recruitment angle are twofold: the involvement of the board of directors at all levels of recruitment, which has tended to make recruitment processes slow and laborious to meet the needs of an organization. business entity like an airline, ”Mr. Muleya wrote.

Inflated plane tickets
According to the council, some of the agencies that were recruited were found guilty of selling tickets at inflated prices and pocketing the margin. An audit report, attached to the board’s report, says the airline lost $ 26,991 (around 95 million shillings) between August 2019 and February 2021.
“Some of the general service agencies that were recruited from outside Uganda were involved in racketeering to earn money. The person who appointed them made sure that only people who engaged in mischief were recruited, ”the source revealed.

Jet fuel
According to airline sources, one of the ministers initially made a deal with a local company to supply the airline with fuel, but the board canceled the deal on the grounds that the terms were not favorable because the local company required advance payments. after every two weeks.
“The airline management [then] traveled to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and bought MixedJet, which offered a better deal. This put management on a collision course with the minister, the source revealed.

But the board is now questioning the rationale for purchasing MixedJet, which they say provides fuel at a higher cost. The council recommends hiring a local business. Such a move, he says, will help the airline save between 10 and 20 percent of what it pays on fuel.