MPs on Parliament’s COSASE continue to harass Uganda Airlines CEO Jennifer Bamuturaki Abwooli on allegations that she fraudulently got that posting.
Bamuturaki was appointed by President Museveni based on the existing law that may not discriminate when it comes to such appointments. The president has been appointing executives for government agencies over three decades now.
The Uganda Airlines Act of 1976, Chapter 323 [8], which commenced on May 17 1976, rests the powers to appoint the CEO of the national airliner into the hands of the reigning president.
COSASE MPs led by Joel Ssenyonyi seem to have ignored this legislation, which reads, “The Corporation shall have a general manager, who shall be appointed by the President for such period and upon such terms and conditions as the President may determine. The general manager shall be the chief executive officer of the corporation and shall devote the whole of his or her time to the duties of his or her office.”
The Act gives the CEO of the airline powers to control funds generated. The general manager shall be responsible for the management of the funds, property and business of the corporation and for the administration, organization and control of the staff of the corporation.
The law does not call for advertising the job of the airlines’ CEO in the local or international newspapers. So, according to watchers following the interface between COSASE, and Bamuturaki and others at Uganda Airlines, the issue of Bamuturaki not sitting for an interview before getting the job does not rise, but her appointment was boosted by the fact that she had been serving at the same company in a senior position and therefore was expected to deliver, and sources say she was on the right track.
Museveni, it is said, based on the same law governing the local airline Zambian Cornwell Muleya, who unfortunately left the company unceremoniously, and fighting government in court.
There is concern that Museveni’s letter of appointing Bamuturaki was hidden for some good time, meaning there are people who did not want Museveni’s choice, which is illegal because the law gives the president the liberty to appoint whoever he is pleased with. The Headquarters of Ministry of Works and Transport might have mafias who were thinking otherwise, but it said Museveni who now is not happy with COSASE wants those bad people revealed.
Writing to works minister Gen. Katumba Wamala, Museveni said he appointed Bamuturaki based on reports of her good performance in the previous position at the same company.
“According to my intelligence, Jennifer Bamuturaki has performed well in quite a hostile environment. I, myself, was flown by the new CRJ-900 to Nairobi and back the other day by the very able young pilots from Soroti with the capable air-hostesses. I direct that you give Jennifer Bamuturaki a substantive appointment for 3 years,” reads part of the president’s letter to Gen. Katumba.
Now, instead of implementing the president’s directive, a clique of mafias at the works ministry hid this letter from Jennifer for three months and used that time to instead contract, very fast a consultancy firm to conduct a search for a new CEO! PWC was paid a whooping Shs98.1 million for the job.
Someone was trying to disregard Museveni’s appointment by advertising for a job in an advert ran on June 24, 2022, almost three months after Museveni had already directed, in writing, that Jennifer be confirmed.
All in all COSASE, is not fair and now trying to find fault in anything that Bamuturaki has done in her new post. Watch this space, Museveni will retain Bamuturaki as Uganda Airlines CEO.
