Joel Ssenyonyi, the chairperson of Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has accused Speaker Anita Among of refusing to allow the tabling of the report in regard to the investigations about the management of Uganda Airlines.
COSASE kicked off hearings into operations of Uganda Airlines in July following red flags raised by the Auditor General. The committee wound up its probe in September.
According to Ssenyonyi, it is now three months since the report was handed over to the Speaker but it has never been put on the Parliament’s order paper so that it is given time for debate by MPs.
“Every time I raise the matter, she says you wait, I am still reading your report. I wonder what she is reading when the report is already written. Even though we shared it one time with the MPs ahead of debate, it was removed without any clear explanation,” he says.
But Chris Obore, Parliament’s Director of Communications, says there are many reports to be debated and Ssenyonyi should be patient.
A leaked copy of the COSASE report recommended that current and past executives of Uganda Airlines should be punished for mismanagement and flouting procurement regulations.
In the 50-page report, MPs on the Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) committee say the airline’s chief executive officer Jennifer Bamuturaki, who has since changed her name to Jennifer Lenkai, should refund Shs 156 million paid to online bloggers to burnish her reputation and that of the national carrier during a recent storm of bad publicity.
MPs say the controversial contract flouted procurement regulations and was mired in influence peddling.
The COSASE hearings spotlighted operations of the national carrier dogged by scandals since the company was incorporated in 2018.
The airline has had three chief executive officers and two boards of directors since. The last board was sent packing early last year to pave way for an investigation into corruption and flawed procurement deals.
