The Minister of Works and Transport Gen Edward Katumba Wamala has urged the new members of the board of directors of Uganda Airlines to revolutionize the national carrier by runing it as a business not as a government parastatal.
Speaking at the inauguration of the new board members on Friday at Hotel Africana, Minister Gen Katumba said the new board members are charged with a mandate to ensure that Uganda Airlines grows to another level by ensuring its effectiveness and efficient management.
“This is a pure business! Not a parastatal but business. The Airline must run as a business, we don’t want to run it as the former parastatals. Please don’t expect ministers to say I want this from the airline, this is a business arm and an asset to the nation therefore it must run as a business,”Gen Katumba said.
The Minister also informed the board members that they are charged with a role to make sure that Uganda Airlines achieves the vision of being a world-class airline.
“Avoid overstepping on the mandate of the board into management, please clearly be lenient to the roles properly to remember you are complementary and not competing with each other. Manage the running cost of the company and the cost of aircraft operations but be affordable. Also work to attain the break-even point of the airline.”
Gen Katumba further asked them to make the company competitive as a way of expanding its business portfolio by taking over all opportunities so as to make Entebbe International Airlines a hub.
“Ensure the airline’s compliance with both international and national air regulations because the airline industry is a highly regulated industry.”
On the other hand, Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Ramathan Ggoobi requested the incoming board members that in their first 90 days they should put in place a strategic plan that will turn around the airline, to ensure that it runs on a very well thought through and targeted plan.
“Secondly, put in place the competent team of staff right from CEO to the last person in that airline. They should be competent and well recruited and well-vetted so that the airline is run professionally. Also, put in place a robust accounting system as well as all the necessary manuals so that the airline is run transparently and efficiently,” Mr Ggoobi said.
“I want also to inform you through my minister that from today, there is no room for corruption in Uganda Airlines, no room for management incompetence, no room for unprofessionalism and no room for wastage of resources.”
The new coming members of the board of directors include;
Ms Priscilla Mirembe Serukka (Chairperson of the board) works also as the Managing Director of Kairos Consult. Mr Ebrahim Kisoro Sadrudin, a retired pilot. Mr Herbert Kamuntu, managing director of Kachain Logistics. Mr Abdi Karim Moding, a senior field engineer, is also the country representative of SITA, a multinational information technology company that provides information technology and telecommunication services to the air industry. Ms Samson Rwahwire, an associate professor at Busitema University, Ms Barbara Mirembe Namugambe (an advocate) and Mr Patrick Ocailap, the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury.
While making her maiden speech after taking an oath, Mrs Serukka promised that their board has come to serve with varieties of talents and experiences which are going to benefit the airline. “We thank the minister and Permanent Secretaries for the guidance given us and we have taken it seriously and we pledge never to let you down, we are going to take our calling seriously, as a board our role will not be to manage but to carry out our forcer mandate; first to guide the airline in fulfilling its corporate mission and our role will be to translate vision into reality, give strategic guidance to the management and to protect the companies’ assets over time and ensure survival and prosperity of the company in a transparent and accountable manner.”
She also pledge that her member will do what it takes to protect the shareholders’ interests “Our first job as the airline is to understand where the airline is currently and where the owners would like us to go, risks and how to mitigate them and indeed to come up with the strategy to move us forward.”
The acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Uganda Airlines Jennifer Bamuturaki, welcomed the new board and also thanked the outgoing interim board for the tremendous work they did especially during the time the airline was facing a lot of challenges.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the interim board, you were very helpful , and we were able to operate because you filled the gap, I also want to thank minister Gen Katumba for allowing the interim board to support us. We are also excited by the new board because of the composition that has come together, especially in regards to their background in aviation, and management.”
The new board comes in after the suspension of the old board in May last year amid accusations of corruption and abuse of office. According to President Yoweri Museveni, the old board was full of corrupt people.
“The airline was infiltrated immediately (it was revived) by some corrupt elements – employing their relatives, over budgeting, inflating procurement costs, terrible! Terrible things! When I got the information, I dispersed the whole group,” Mr Museveni said while speaking at Kololo Independence Grounds on May 24 last year.
Meanwhile, the new members are going to serve for three years.
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