Museveni appoints Ex-Ethiopian Airlines chief to act as Uganda airlines acting CEO

KAMPALA - President Yoweri Museveni has directed Minister of Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamala to immediately appoint the former Ethiopian Airlines chief executive officer (CEO) Girma Wake as a consultant/advisor at Uganda Airlines so that he can assist in rectifying a number of management weaknesses in the airline. 

The President also directed the former airline CEO to hand of office to Wake immediately. 

In his letter dated February 13, 2026, to Gen Katumba, Museveni says, "defence is made to the current leadership and management weakness in Uganda Airlines.  I hereby direct that you go ahead and appoint Girma Wake as a consultant/advisor to assist in rectifying a number of management weakness in the airline. In addition, he is to serve as acting CEO until we appoint a new CEO in July. "

Museveni said Wake will work hand in hand with the board until a substantive CEO is appointed. 

"I also direct that the current CEO, Bamuturaki be enabled to step aside immediately and hand over to Wake and the board of Uganda Airlines.  The board should go ahead and organise whatever emoluments are due to her, " Museveni noted. 

Bamuturaki's woes

Early this month, the state Minister for transport Fred Byabakama revealed that Jenifer Bamuturaki was actually sacked in June last year by President Yoweri Museveni, the New Vision has learnt.

In an exclusive interview with New Vision, Byamukama on February 3, 2026, revealed that Bamutaraki’s sacking came in the wake of a May 2025 probe by the Uganda Airlines Board, which conducted an audit that revealed massive rot in the institution. 

The minister also revealed that several other Uganda Airlines managers who were involved in the rot at Uganda Airlines would not be spared and that they would not only be swept away but also face prosecution.

Byamukama’s revelation comes in the wake of an internal email circulated to staff by Bamuturaki informing employees that the airline’s Board would soon advertise the position of Chief Executive Officer, a clear signal that her tenure had come to an end.

Bamuturaki in her internal memo seen by New Vision, “the Board will advertise the position of CEO shortly, and you are all encouraged to apply if you meet the required qualifications”.

Explaining her sacking after three year stay as CEO, Byamukama said, “the Uganda Airlines board made an audit and gave report and suggestions to the President on the corruption, losses, mismanagement  in Uganda Airlines in May 2025 and in his response, the President said give one year, which is ending this June and we have started the process and we hope by May this year, we shall have gotten a new CEO.”

“With Uganda Airlines, we have been having what we called managerial issues ranging from the fights of the top management up to the lower staff.  We later discovered the whole issue was coming from the CEO, who forgot that when you are appointed by the President, you remain humble and focus on why you were appointed. She thought she could never be demoted anytime, and the only boss she knew was the President, and yet he could not be there all the time. She could only listen to the directives from H.E,” Byamukama said.

He revealed that as a result, the airline was mismanaged. 

“They opened so many routes which was uncalled for compared to the fleets we have. They started with some corruption within the airlines as managers. It’s a very big group of people, and started making some losses, and the airline couldn’t grow. So, the President decided to give her one year, which is expiring this June. Her sacking was done in July last year, and the President directed we give her one year as we look for a new CEO,” Byamukama stated.

Byabakama said the Uganda Airlines Human Resource Officer had also sacked himself.

“There are more we are coming for. We are at the time of cleaning Uganda Airlines. We just got sh446b a supplementary budget as commitment to buy new aircrafts. We can’t stay with such people who are unpatriotic,” the Minister noted.

Search for new CEO

Byabakama said the works ministry and the Uganda Airlines were now looking for a new CEO to replace Bamuturaki.

“The process of looking for the CEO is going to be through a competitive process. The board will be issuing out an advert very soon, and we will ensure we get the best CEO,” he said.

Byabakama confirmed that several groups and power barons were already lobbying for the position and assured that the CEO would be selected competitively.

“I must assure Ugandans that the issue of lobbying is what is killing Government business. For example, Bamuturaki became CEO because of lobbying. With airline there is no business of lobbying. We are going through a competitive process. There are many people who consulted the President way back about becoming the CEO of Uganda Airlines, but he refused. The final guidance he has given is go back and source for the best person you want, so that if any problem happens, you are held responsible. We handling this as the Ministry and other stakeholders to ensure we get the best,” he said.

 “We want someone to tell us which plans he/she has to stop delays of aircrafts, plans for routes where we are making losses like Abuja-Nigeria where the whole place of 273 people goes only with 70 passengers. Which airline has that person managed before. Did they manage it successfully,” the Minister noted.

Previous investigations

Bamuturaki was appointed CEO in July 2022, replacing Cornel Muleya, who suspended, accused of mismanagement and abuse of office, and later sacked.

During her reign as CEO, she has faced three investigations, including one by the Parliamentary Committee on State Authorities (COSASE) in 2024, a May 2025 probe by her own board and then the December 2025 probe by Criminal Investigation Directorate (CID) probe targeting top officials of the airline over allegations related to abuse of office.

COSACE findings

‎‎COSASE probe focused on the sh237.8 billion loss incurred during the 2023/2024 financial year, as stated in the Auditor General’s report.

The report indicated that Uganda Airlines did not have a board-approved staff structure and establishment to assess staff recruitment needs and status, and did not have approved staff salary grades.

“As a result, some staff earn very high salaries while others earn very low salaries. This affected proper planning and budgeting for staff costs. As consequence, the company incurred an excess expenditure of sh4,9 on salaries and staff expenses,” COSACE stated.

The committee observed that the salaries paid to some categories of staff were exorbitant at a time when the airline was making losses. “In the Financial Year under review, the total wage bill was shillings 14.3 billion compared to the previous year when the wage bill was sh7.2b. the wage bill of the unapproved staff structure is one of the costs causing burden to Uganda Airlines.”

The committee also noted that there were disparities in the salaries of staff holding the same position. For example, the director maintenance earns sh80m; the director flight operations, the director commercial earn sh40m; some cabin crew staff earn sh4m, while others earn sh2m.

“On examination of curriculum vitae of senior staff, the committee noted that some top officials lacked minimum qualifications. For example, Regina Tebasiima, the Commercial Director has only an A-level certificate as her highest qualification. The CEO Bamuturaki does not possess the required academic qualifications stipulated in the human resource manual. The requirement for CEO is Bachelor’s degree and a post graduate/master. She only posses a bachelors degree in social work and social administration,” the COSACE stated.

CID probe

CID in a letter dated January 7, 2026, copied to the Head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit (SHACU) wrote to Uganda Airlines demanding extensive procurement, revenue and banking records.

“The Criminal Investigations Directorate in liaison with SHACU is currently investigating a case of abuse of office, embezzlement of funds and false accounting against officials of Uganda Airlines relating to financial transactions,” the letter said.

CID, among other documents requested for: contracts Committee minutes approving the purchase of Boeing aircraft; procurement files for fuel suppliers, aircraft leasing firms and ticketing agents; revenue accounting, banking and cash-receipt records; and internal audit reports and expenditure linked to the launch of the London route.

Sources privy to the investigations revealed that the probe came in the wake of a September State House meeting chaired by President Yoweri Museveni in which significant financial losses accumulated under the current management was reviewed.

A special audit found that more than $9.2 million (about Shs35 billion) in service fees continued to be charged to passengers after management scrapped the levy in July 2023. Auditors reported no evidence that the money was banked, raising concerns of possible misappropriation.

Ticketing operations were also flagged after audits showed that agencies linked to airline staff — including Nyanza Tours and Travel — controlled over 90% of deeply discounted ticket classes, potentially suppressing airline revenue and breaching conflict-of-interest rules.

Fuel procurement contracts and aircraft leasing arrangements were similarly raised as areas of concern.

Byabakama said they had provided all the investigative agencies with the information they needed. “CID , Inspectorate of Government and SHACU are investigating Uganda Airlines. None of the entities have come up to give us their preliminary findings,” he said.