“No room for mismanagement, corruption”- PS Ggoobi  warns new Uganda Airlines board

The Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Ramathan Ggoobi has warned that with the new board of directors for the Uganda Airlines in place, there should not be room for mismanagement.

“Uganda Airlines must save Ugandans from the agony of flying in Africa. There is no room for corruption and management incompetence, un professionalism and wastage of resources in Uganda Airlines,”Ggoobi said.

The Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary was on Friday speaking during the inauguration of the new board of the Uganda Airlines to replace the old one which was sacked on the orders of President Museveni in May last year.

The then board led by Perez Ahabwe was involved in a number of scandals including corruption and infighting involving the board, top management and officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport.

For example a dossier by the then CEO of the Uganda Airlines, Cornwell Muleya indicated that none of the board members of Uganda Airlines then  had any aviation background although this has been defended by the airline as not being a major problem.

The dossier also indicated that there was interference by board members in the day to day affairs of the national carrier with some of the board members accused of pushing for their own promotions for selfish reasons instead of safeguarding the interest of the airline.

Last year, President Museveni directed for the disbandment of the board whereas contracts for some members of the management and staff including the CEO Cornwell Muleya were terminated whereas others were suspended pending investigations.

Speaking during the inauguration of the new board at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Friday, the Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary noted that  Uganda Airlines ought to be the pride of the country, adding that it should be free of any scandals or else a gloomy picture would be painted for the national carrier.

“We have made huge investments into the Uganda Airlines. We have invested more than shs2 trillion in it and this has been strategic.  There are very few investments of that magnitude in this country and we have used money from public coffers. I therefore want to see effective and efficient management of this airline. This is not a request but a directive,” a tough talking Ggoobi said.

He explained that by investing heavily into the national carrier, government aims at reaping several benefits but noted these can only be achieved with a sound board of directors and other management team members and staff.

“From today, there is no room for corruption, mismanagement and wastage of resources because this is a strategic investment.”

Ggoobi said the revival of the Uganda Airlines has seen a number of benefits including the reduction in air travel, citing the route from Entebbe to Nairobi which initially was charged  $800 but has reduced to $300 partly due to the emergency of Uganda’s national carrier.

He said in the past, what defined flying in Africa was agony, noting that this ought to change with the coming of the Uganda Airlines.

“Africans have for a long time suffered with the agony of flying. Uganda Airlines should change this. Make Uganda Airlines the airline of choice for Uganda, East Africa and Africa at large,”Ggoobi urged.

New board

The new Uganda Airlines board inaugurated on Friday included  Priscilla Mirembe Serukka, the Managing Director of Kairos Consult as its chairperson, Samson Rwahwire, Patrick Ocailap, Ebrahim Kisoro Sadrudin, a retired pilot, Herbert Kamuntu, Abdi Karim Moding and Barbara Mirembe Namugambe .