Corruption, incompetent management, and government officials turning it into an errand commuter ran it into the ground. Incidentally, the National Resistance Movement (NRM) attempted to privatize it in an attempt to rescue it from collapse.
This failed too and ultimately it closed in the 1990s. After a long hiatus, the NRM revived it. But ever since it returned to the skies, its existence has been dogged by horrible stories of mismanagement, procurement scandals, and now recruitment saga. What is worse is that some politicians especially from Tooro kingdom have gone tribal.
The chairperson of the probe committee, Cosase, Joel Ssenyonyi announced on his Twitter account that the minister of Tourism Tom Butime had threatened him for probing the appointment of Jennifer Bamutaraki as the chief executive officer of the airline.
Bamutaraki was directly appointed by President Yoweri Museveni. The board of directors had advertised the CEO position and others. However, Bamuturaki told Cosase that she didn’t apply for the job.
Instead, the president ordered the minister of Works, General Katumba Wamala to ensure she is appointed CEO. Another member of parliament Alex Ruhunda has also claimed that the probe should be stopped because it is an attack on Tooro.
Many other people have claimed that even if Bamutaraki does not have the requisite academic papers, she still merits the job! Why should matters of competence be measured through tribal lenses?
Cosase is not questioning why a Mutooro was appointed CEO. It is asking a simple question, did Bamutaraki pass the competence test? Apparently not. She was once suspended from the very organisation for incompetence. Strangely, Gen Katumba Wamala also believes the probe has damaged the image of the airlines and the country may miss some tourists who had warmed up to the airline.
True, the image of the CEO has been dented in the region. But that is the price to pay for preferring incompetence to professionalism. We don’t need to turn a blind eye to the mistakes of our tribe mates.
Incompetence cannot be defined in any other way other than what it is. Butime and Ruhunda ought to apologize to the nation for their statements and threats. How can national leaders condone incompetence?
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