The Rwandair plane plying the Entebbe-Nairobi skies is very Rwandan!
The plane, even though small, looks and feels new, especially because it is extremely clean. Indeed, the white bits on the seats are still very white and generally comfortable.
I was in Nairobi last week on a whirlwind visit and tour of several top local schools that left me impressed on many fronts. But that’s a story for another day. When planning the trip, friends advised me that for reliability and affordability, Rwandair is the best. No contest!
Departure time on the return journey was 8:30am and the plane taxied off at exactly 8.27am, perhaps in anticipation of the five or so minutes required for queuing before takeoff!
The journey lasts just under fifty minutes, but there is enough time to serve everyone a bite and juice or coffee. Only two people served us, yet it seemed as if there was no rush.
Remember there is no movement on a plane for the first and last ten minutes as it goes up or descends. So, this was a super job. They also collect litter before taking their seats.
It is usual practice on flights just that the Rwandan stewards – yes, they were Rwandans on this flight – do it nearly rhythmically and languidly, flowing quite like their dances.
Most short flights in Europe or the USA no longer serve anything free, in order to keep fares down. And service on the long hauls can even seem aggressive as stewards march up and down the long aisles. Service on my Rwandair flight seemed quite effortless and pleasurable.
Contrary to what you are thinking, this is not a piece intended to advertise Rwanda’s airline. My experience on their flights has finally persuaded me that yes, we need Uganda Airlines back and urgently.
Forget about the economics of the entire thing. Our governance structures and other public decisions show or prove that economics has never been our concern!
As you come aboard Rwandair, it is local music playing in the background. Passengers are initially addressed in Kinyarwanda, followed by English. This is worth a repeat: there are planes in our skies that employ Kinyarwanda as first language of communication! It is the in-flight magazine that is devoid of Kinyarwanda, perhaps because the majority of passengers are foreign.
There is no doubt that Rwandair is the pride of Rwandans, I guess very much like Uganda Cranes is for us! It matters not that many citizens have no hope of (not even dreaming about) boarding their national plane; it still gives them pride. It is the same for us.
When The Cranes have a game, you will find Ugandans in the remotest of places donning a Cranes shirt even though they do not own a television or radio to follow matches, let alone going to Namboole stadium to watch the game live.
Since we qualified for Afcon in Gabon, there has been a kind of collective pride across politics, tribe and religion; the things that usually divide us. I also have friends of the opposition in politics that own yellow Uganda Cranes shirts!
Of course there will be some challenges when setting up the new Uganda Airlines, but it may be worth it. First, we must have some dialogue on the Ugandan language to employ on flights. Kenya Airways (KQ) uses Kiswahili, which is not a problem because it is the second language of the nation.
Most in Kenya communicate first in mother tongue then Kiswahili. Here in Uganda, it would be a waste to use Kiswahili for now because the nationals do not comprehend it.
I have friends from western Uganda who have vowed never to speak Luganda even though they have lived in Buganda all their lives. They even own property and businesses in Buganda. At the same time, I know someone who lives and works in Ankole but has never spoken the local language.
Yet there is one special friend, a Munyakore, who is well versed with all the Luganda proverbs and idioms to the extent that everyone consults with her when in need of appropriate expression.
We also do not have Ugandan or national music they way you would ask a DJ to play you a Kinyarwanda song. Strangely, we do have kina-Uganda films that are recognised and accepted like the ki-Nigeria films.
So, as we ponder over the rebirth of Uganda Airlines, worry not about the economics. The social issues are immense, even bigger than any elephants!
osm@kigothinkers.org
The author is one of the founding Kigo Thinkers.