Bamuturaki issued fresh summons after COSASE snub, probe into Airlines mess deepens

KAMPALA, UGANDA: The Parliamentary Committee on State Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has issued fresh summons to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uganda Airlines, Ms. Jenniffer Bamuturaki to appear on tomorrow (Wednesday) without fail or face arrest.

This came after Bamuturaki and her team today failed appear before the committee to answer the uncoordinated dots raised in the Auditor General’s report for the Financial Year 2020/2021 for the National Carrier’s performance.

The probe that started last week on Tuesday was today meant to look into the operations of the national carrier, procurement processes, and losses suffered and also establish if the current directors and managers at the airlines qualify for the positions they hold among other queries raised.

However, Bamuturaki, through the Quality Assurance Manager, Mr Michael Kalisa today delivered a letter notifying the committee of her failure to appear and requested the committee to reschedule the meeting to the second week of September citing that there are issues at Uganda Airlines that needs to be fixed urgently and cannot be postponed.

However, this was discarded by the committee chairperson Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi describing the Airlines Management as being ‘unserious’ for requesting for an extension on the actual day of the meeting. 

This prompted the Nakawa West MP to issue fresh summons demanding that Ms. Bamuturaki appears tomorrow [Wednesday] without fail or else she faces arrest.

“She had better show up tomorrow, we are going to issue summons today. If she does not show up then we shall issue a warrant of arrest so that wherever she is, they can bring her here,” Mr Ssenyonyi said.

In a related development, the Airlines board has also asked the committee to carry out investigations into its operations without the media, arguing that this is meant to ‘protect’ the image of the national carrier, an appeal which was also further rejected by Ssenyonyi, insisting that media presence is necessary for purposes of transparency.

“If you don’t have anything to hide then, everything should be out there. We think that Uganda Airlines should be accountable to Parliament and also the public out there,” he wondered.

Mess at the Airlines

Last week, COSASE discovered that the newly appointed CEO of the National Carrier Ms. Jennifer Bamuturaki did not meet the minimum academic qualification for the job at the time of her appointment; a matter that stirred mixed reactions across all sections of the public.

The revelation came after she presented copies of her Curriculum Vitae (CV), job description and academic documents to the committee.

The committee indicated that at the time of her appointment, Ms Bamuturaki only had a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Works and Social Administration (SWASA) and lacked a postgraduate qualification, as it had been required.

Whereas Ms Bamuturaki possesses most of other qualifications raised in the copy of the advert, it was noted that she did not have a post-graduate training in administration or any other business-related course. 

She also has a 15-year minimum experience, which dwarfs the 10-year experience that was required of applicants.  Ms Bamuturaki, however, indicated that she is currently pursuing Master of Arts degree in Public Administration at Makerere University. 

In her defense, Ms Bamuturaki said unlike other fields of work in Uganda, the aviation industry administration largely depends on one’s experience, adding that she secured her experience in the industry from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which makes her fit for the job.