Uganda Airlines, COSASE to face off over audit report

KAMPALA - Officials from Uganda National Airlines Company Limited (UNACL) are slated to appear before Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) tomorrow (August 20, 2025).

The national carrier had originally been scheduled to meet the committee chaired by Busiro East MP Medard Lubega Ssegona (NUP) for the second time in less than a week’s time on Tuesday, August 19, 2025, to answer a litany of queries raised in Auditor General Edward Akol’s report for the year ending December 2024.

However, by 11:00 a.m. today, the officials were nowhere in sight, prompting Ssegona to call off the session. “We shall see what to do with the material before us,” he ruled.

This was after deliberations with fellow MPs, including Kashari South’s Nathan Itungo (Independent), on the next course of action.

“We appreciate your decision, but the fundamental issue why we wanted this agency back was about the former accounting officer who made a deal that is going to cause a fundamental loss. You know the spares of the planes, their manufacturer is out of business, and the future of the planes (CRJ 900) is questionable,” said Itungo.

However, Ssegona clarified that they, as a committee, had summoned the group through the current accounting officer, who had not shown up. Adding that snubbing a session of this kind is a choice, but all choices do have consequences.

“The matter was not limited to spare parts for the aircraft. It is a matter of accountability for the entire budget and the entire sums that were disbursed,” he argued.  

It should be noted that in her last appearance before COSASE, Uganda Airlines CEO Jennifer Bamuturaki assured MPs that she was working to address these challenges by “renegotiating contracts to the bone” and removing contentious clauses. One key focus, she noted, is on spare parts supply agreements.

“One of our suppliers, Lufthansa Technik, has been providing us with spare parts for the CRJs, but they have now informed us that they are not going to support the CRJ as an aircraft. That means we had to go back to the market and look for companies that can support that aircraft,” Bamuturaki disclosed.

“One of the companies we have approached is an American company which will give us a significant reduction of about $100,000 (equivalent to sh356.8 million) a month. Because with Lufthansa and other spare parts suppliers, we have to pay a monthly retainer,” she added.

Lufthansa Technik is a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) subsidiary of the Lufthansa Group. It is one of the world’s largest and most reputable aircraft maintenance companies, providing routine maintenance, component repairs, aircraft modifications, and engineering services.

However, shortly after adjourning the meeting, Uganda Airlines officials, led by their incumbent CEO, arrived. Only to find the conference hall where their meeting had been scheduled almost empty save for some MPs or two, but it was already too little too late. 

Airlines speaks out

The airline's spokesperson, Shakila Rahim Lamar, attributed this to a mix-up. Saying that they had been informed to appear at midday, the last time they appeared on Thursday last week.

“The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other team members had scheduled a crucial meeting for the airlines at 10:00 am. In hindsight, we really knew all of us; we were supposed to be here at midday. And as you are aware, the Auditor General’s representative came in at almost midday,” Shakila explained in a telephone interview.

Adding that “this is regrettable, but also, we apologise that we had that mix-up. Because we also want to have this hearing done and have some of these issues resolved. So that we can get back to operations. I have heard from the clerk that we are supposed to appear at 9:00 am, and we will be here on time, you know we are aviators.”