Among accused the Committee led by Joel Ssenyonyi, who is also the Nakawa West Member of Parliament of 'laziness' thus failing to probe the various entities recommended by the Auditor General within the six months.
On Thursday, the Committee was shocked at the fresh details that the Airlines Chief Executive Officer - CEO, Jenifer Bamuturaki influenced the award of 3.48 Billion Shillings to Abbavater Group and not 2.097 billion Shillings as was earlier submitted by the Airlines officials on Wednesday.
In her response, Bamuturaki disclosed that earlier in March 2019, before she joined the Airlines, the then Uganda Airlines interim CEO, Ephraim Bagenda called and asked her to recommend ‘somebody’ to manage a launch event of receiving the new aircrafts, and she shared the contact of Abbavater Group CEO, Mark Odeke.
It has emerged that in June 2021, as then Acting CEO of the Airlines, Bamuturaki generated a requisition for the USD 12,750, which was approved by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works and Transport to facilitate her trips to 10 destination countries that never materialized.
During their meeting on Thursday, Committee Chairperson Joel Ssenyonyi tasked Katumba Wamala to explain why he could not advise President Yoweri Museveni when he directed him to appoint Bamuturaki, even when she lacked the requisite qualifications.
The Uganda Airlines board members have asked Parliament to lock out the media from covering further probes against the company as a safeguard to bad press that may endanger its future prospects.
The then Commercial Director who doubled as the Contracts Manager working under Bagenda as the acting Chief Executive Officer of Uganda Airlines were allegedly involved in hiring the Abbavater Group Limited, an advertising firm to brand and market the newly aircrafts in and outside Uganda a cost of USD 540,000 (about 2.067 billion Shillings) without opening the process to a competitive bidding process, thus flouting PPDA procedures.
The job required an ideal candidate to hold a bachelor’s degree in any field, post-graduate training in Administration or any other business-related course, and at least 10 years of aviation experience at a senior management level.
Notably, the Auditor General's report FY 2020/2021 pointed out that without an approved staff structure, the recruitment of the 107 staff of the Airlines during the Financial Year under reviewed is rendered irregular, and affects proper planning and budgeting for staff costs.
