By Spy Uganda Investigations Desk
Emotions Aside, Who Appoints Uganda Airlines CEO By Law Of The Land?
THE UGANDA AIRLINES ACT of 1976, CHAPTER 323, clause 8, which commenced on 17, May 1976, rests the powers to appoint the CEO of the national airliner into the hands of the reigning president. By the time this law came into being, soft-spoken but tough Jennifer Bamuturaki Abwooli was only 5 years old, playing with dolls somewhere in then Kabarole District (now Kyenjojo District). Ugandans have also of late accused Ssabalwanyi Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of influencing the amendment of laws in this country, but for this one, Museveni was probably extremely very poor and powerless, grazing family cows with his late father, Amos Kaguta in Ankole.
The act reads in part thus; “The Corporation shall have a general manager, who shall be appointed by the President for such period and upon such terms and conditions as the President may determine. The general manager shall be the chief executive officer of the corporation and shall devote the whole of his or her time to the duties of his or her office”.
It adds thus; “Subject to this Act and the general supervision and control of the board, the general manager shall be responsible for the management of the funds, property and business of the corporation and for the administration, organization and control of the staff of the corporation”. There is nothing like… “The Board will run adverts in the media inviting candidates, who will sit interviews and the best candidate takes the job”, no. It actually empowers the president to appoint whomever he wants.
That’s the same law president Museveni used to single-handedly root for a Zambian aviation consultant, a one Cornwell Muleya, whom taxpayers, until recently, were paying a whooping UGX 127m per month (Jennifer doesn’t even get half of that). Even when he was sent on forced leave, he continued receiving the above payment, more than what his successor was getting while on duty working!
In other words, the one at the beach having fun was being paid more than the one doing actual work! The able COSASE Chairman, Hon Joel Ssenyonyi never raised that matter when he appeared before the committee last week. Instead, he was given a nod to comment on Jennifer’s ‘incompetence’!
Actually, when you see the brotherly and cordial mood in the committee when Muleya and Perez Ahabwe, the former Board chairman are before them, compared to Jennifer’s hostile environment, if you are kin enough, you’re able to see the ‘grey area’ in their ethical conduct and the general purpose of what’s going on. And more so, this is before a Chairman, who’s an authority in journalism having worked with very reputable media houses, no doubt and now a lawyer. But that’s for another day…
Now, pursuant to the above act, president Museveni appointed Jennifer Bamuturaki as substantive CEO of Uganda airlines, just as he did with her predecessor Cornwell Muleya. But what will leave you extremely confused is that Museveni’s letter took 3 months to reach its destination, moving on the tortoise as means of transport, from Plot 1 Nakasero to Old Port Bell Rd, Industrial area, Kampala, the Headquarters of Ministry of Works and Transport!
How The Interview Comedy Started:
To understand this kind of Mafioso at the Ministry of Works and Transport, I invite you to read the president’s letter dated April 24, 2022, where he writes to the line Minister Gen.Katumba Wamala DIRECTING (not suggesting or requesting) that, the workaholic Jennifer, after working in a hostile environment and proving herself that she can produce results, be confirmed as substantive CEO on a 3-year contract.
Museveni writes….“According to my intelligence, Jennifer Bamuturaki has performed well in quite a hostile environment. I, myself, was flown by the new CRJ-900 to Nairobi and back the other day by the very able young pilots from Soroti with the capable air-hostesses. I direct that you give Jennifer Bamuturaki a substantive appointment for 3 years,” reads part of the president’s letter to Gen.Katumba. See what they did instead…
Now, instead of implementing the president’s directive, a clique of mafias (names withheld for now, will release later) at the MoW&T hid this letter from Jennifer for 3 months and used that time to instead contract, very fast a consultancy firm, PWC (sources say they never advertised that contract as well, which gave PWC the job), contracted them to conduct a search for a new CEO! PWC was paid a whooping shs 98.1m for the job. The consultancy firm then quickly ran adverts in their chosen media (using their mafia click in the media) asking interested candidates to apply for a job they very well knew president Museveni had already given out three months ago!
In other words, someone was trying to topple/usurp Ssabalwanyi’s powers by giving a job ahead of the state had already given out. Even after receiving instructions! If you see the dates of the advert, you will find that it ran on 24, June 2022, almost three months after Ssabalwanyi had already directed, in writing, that Jennifer be confirmed.
Our sources have since established that the mafias within the system instead intercepted the letter, confiscated it and thereafter ignited the hunt for a new CEO via adverts behind Ssabalwanyi’s back. The mafias expected that Jennifer, by not looking at the president’s letter, she would be among the first applicants to rush to apply to retain her job, and by doing so, she would have validated their exercise, which would later do everything humanely possible to foil her.
“They had planned to give Jennifer almost only F9s in the interviews and later show Museveni that he was wrong by choosing a failure, who, already the Muleya team had earlier kicked out on basis of ‘incompetence and nonperformance’. Actually, Jennifer was wiser not to apply, because these guys had wanted to correspond her performance in the interviews with the earlier report they forged against her that she was so ‘green’ about the Aviation Industry. With such results, they thought they would convince Muzei to ignore his earlier choice and show him that Jennifer was a nonstarter,” added our source via phone on Friday night.
By Jennifer making no show for the interviews, their game plan collapsed. Wonder not, that the very first question Ssenyonyi had been sent via his phone to ask Jennifer in the COSASE interface was whether she was among those who applied for the job, to which she answered the negative. That instigated the second question—Why, to which she asserted that she had been already appointed by the time of the advert. These, according to our source, were pre-set questions by Jennifer’s detractors who thought they would use COSASE to pitch holes in her appointment. Mind you, although they hid that letter from Jennifer, the smart girl from Tooro had actually got a copy through the backdoor, which they didn’t know, she was only waiting for them at the finishing line of their own game plan!
But Why Do They Want Jennifer Out Of Their Way?
According to them, Jennifer is a stumbling block in their way to continue cracking ‘crazy deals’ only valued in dollars at the airport. Jennifer refused to join their click to hit jackpots in minutes. For full reasons Local, Regional and International Reasons as to why she is being fought, I invite you to read our last Sunday’s full dozier linked below in this story headlined…”Investigations: The Last Nail In The Coffin! Here’re 10 Reasons Mafias Are Fighting Incorruptible UG Airline CEO Bamuturaki Locally, Regionally & Internationally.”
Museveni Outsmarts Them:
Never joke with tactician Museveni! President Museveni, after studying their monkey games, didn’t waste time. After learning that they had arm-twisted his directives and instead decided to run adverts calling for unsuspecting Ugandans to join their trickery games, he simply sat under a hit tree, called for his famous Ankole Bushera in a ‘gama’ cup while writing Jennifer’s appointment himself! After writing it, our sources claim, he called the very line minister and gave him to deliver to Jennifer himself. That’s how the whole comedy was cut short.
Now, our impeccable sources within the corridors of power have intimated to us that the man from Rwakitura wants a report of who and how his letter was intercepted, what was the intention and for who they’re working for. Mr.Museveni wants to know who wants to topple him starting from within, but very closely working with his nemesis NUP gang.
“You see comrade if you study Joel’s questions, his intentions and his body language with the actions of some people within MoW&T, you realize that there is a very thick correlation. Muleya and Perez Ahabwe, were the right people to answer queries in the 2020-2021 Auditor General’s report that’s apparently before COSASE, but did you hear COSASE Chair asking them anything to do with that? He instead gave them an audience to express their feelings about Jennifer’s appointment, but that’s not an issue in AG’s report. Instead, they’re asking Jennifer questions that they forgot to ask Muleya and Perez. That already shows you that there’s something fishy. So Muzei has been getting feelers,” added our source.
Museveni also wants to know who will be responsible and culpable for the money (Shs 98.1m) paid to PWC to undo a job he had already done free of charge! “So, these Bazukulu are funny, the job I did free of charge, it’s somebody else who was paid? On my sweat?! No no, no somebody must pay me instead,” Museveni was quoted as he gave instructions for a report.
Sources claim Museveni wants to know whether is ‘innocently’ fighting ‘their internal war’ or at ‘a cost’.
Some lawyers next to Museveni are not convinced that Joel, a lawyer with a journalism background, seating in such a powerful office of COSASE with powers of a high court, could not have at least read or heard the UG airlines ACT 1976, which gives powers to the president to appoint CEO of Government MDAs. “You see, let me tell you when Muleya and Perez Ahabwe were invited, we waited to see whether Joel would ask them to explain how they got those jobs, whether they sat interviews or were appointed and if they were appointed, who appointed them? Especially Cornwell Muleya, whom Jennifer replaced. The moment that wasn’t an issue to the committee, yet it was an issue to Jennifer, then they scored their own goal. It’s clear these are simply scapegoats, the real reason is what they’re not saying. So Muzei wants to know if Joel is doing these by omission or commission, if otherwise, are those committees still relevant to the taxi payer?” the source added.
Watch the Space…..
Finally, apart from Poli-Tricks of populism in Uganda, this editor would like to be educated as to when and where since 1986, Adverts, and interviews were conducted for EDs and CEOs of the following Gov’t MDAs so Bamuturaki can take a leaf:
1-Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)
2-Uganda Airlines
3-Dairy Development Authority (DDA)
4-Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA)
5-Uganda Revenue Authority (URA)
6-Inspectorate of Government (IGG)
7-Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU)
8-Uganda Manufacturers Association (UMA)
9-Judicial Service Commission (JSC)
10-National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)
11-National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO)
12-National Council of Sports (NCS)
13-National Drug Authority (NDA)
14-National Forestry Authority (NFA)
15-National Information Technology Authority (NITA)
16-National Medical Stores (NMS)
17-National Planning Authority (NPA)
18-National Social Security Fund (NSSF)
19-Population Secretariat
20-Private Sector Foundation Uganda
21-Privatisation & Utility Sector Reform Project (PUSRP)
22-Public Procurement And Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA)
23-Public Service Commission (PSC)
24-The Amnesty Commission Uganda (ACU)
25- Auditor General
26-The Uganda Road Fund (URF)
27-Uganda Communications Commission (UCC)
28-Uganda Electricity Generation Co. Ltd.(UEGCL)
29-Uganda Electricity Transmission Co. Ltd.
30-Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB)
31-Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC)
32-Uganda Insurance Commission (UIC)
33-Uganda Electoral Commission
34-Uganda Investment Authority
35-Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS)
36-Uganda National Chamber of Commerce & Industry (UNCCI)
37-Uganda National Council for Science & Technology (UNCST)
38-Uganda National Examinations Board (UNEB)
39-Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA)
40-Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB)
