Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has advised Parliament not to waste time on the academic qualifications of chief executive officer of Uganda Airlines, Jenifer Bamuturaki but concentrate on the property of the airlines, saying it is collapsing anytime because of the losses it is making.
“The lady did not apply for the job, why does the parliament time on that. She told you I was invited for this job. Who wrote the letter to appoint, it was the minister, then invite the minister to answer, “said John Kikonyogo, FDC deputy spokesperson during a news conference.
A whistle-blower’s report to President Museveni indicates that the national carrier, Uganda Airlines loses $ 305,500 approximately shs1.2 billion per day over grounded aircraft.
Purchased purposely for long-distance or international flights, the national carrier has two Airbus A330-800neo aircraft but they are yet to start work. Of the two, only one aircraft is operating on the Entebbe- Dubai route.
According to the whistle-blower’s report to the president, Uganda loses a lot of money every day the aircraft is grounded.
Kikonyogo said Parliament should focus on the bigger issue, because the airline may collapse at any time.
“Let’s not be hoodwinked into discussing academic papers of the CEO rather focus on the pertinent issues affecting the Airline operations such Commercial losses amounting to billions of shillings, “he said.
Kikonyogo said on several occasions the country has been awash with scandals concerning presidential directives, and these have left Ugandans worrying about the form of governance by the head of state.
“The directives given to ministry of lands to allocate the Naguru prime lands to dubious and ghost investors, the appointment of the chief executive officer to the Uganda Airlines, the Uganda -Vinci coffee deal and the Lubowa international hospital contract where the government is facing heavy losses because they all end up costing the national coffers and Uganda’s integrity as a nation, “he said.
He said that this micromanagement of the country’s critical and pertinent affairs by president Museveni or his office should be stopped otherwise its rendering even the most competent civil servants idle and inept and yet they are better placed for taking on such decisions before the president rubber stamps them.
He proposed that president Museveni should always recuse himself from being taken into compromising situations, by allowing and trusting the institutional systems to do fact finding checks on some of these decisions.
“And lastly call upon the attorney and Solicitor generals’ offices to step up to the occasion and advise the president before an executive decision is taken into consideration, “he said.