UGANDA CIVIL AVIATION AUTHORITY GETS NEW BOARD
(Posted 31st March 2014)
Following the expiry of the official term of office of the Board of Directors of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority in June last year has a vacuum existed on board level of Uganda’s aviation regulatory body, which had drawn critique from air operators and left key supervisory functions of the board as well as licensing meetings unattended and the management of UCAA working without the mandatory board guidance.
While in such cases normally the minister overseeing a sector assumes the role of the board, this situation was found rather unsatisfactory by the aviation industry which kept pushing to have a substantive board, and chairman, appointed.
This appointment happened according to information provided by a regular source close to the UCAA last Friday, when four new board members were appointed, including a new chairman, while four of the members of the previous board saw their mandate renewed for another term of office of three years.
Taking over from long serving and highly respected Engineer Baliddawa as chairman of the board is Engineer Edward Mike Ndawula and alongside him were Ms. Olive Birungi, John Satya Cheptoek and Mackenzie Ogweng appointed for a three year terms of office. Retained from the previous board were, among others, well known lawyer Enoch Rukidi.
The announcement was made by information minister Rose Namayanja following the approval of the appointments by the Ugandan cabinet during their meeting last Thursday. The Uganda CAA, which besides being the country’s aviation regulator, is also at the same time airport manager for the main international airport in Entebbe and a number of other civilian airports and aerodromes across the country, including such tourist airfields like Pakuba in Murchisons Falls National Park or the main airstrip in Kidepo Valley National Park. It is this division of the CAA which is under pressure to improve and expand facilities in particular at Entebbe International Airport where the ranking and rating has fallen sharply in comparison to other airports in the region, after being for long recognized as an airport of short ways and good functionality. Departure lounges are at peak traffic times overcrowded, check in facilities jam packed and the security arrangements in place, an issue which constantly attracts some stinging criticism, compels passengers to walk long distances from the car park, often exposed to the elements and having to schlepp their baggage for as long as half a kilometer from the most distant part of the parking lot. When it rains, which considering the near equator position and the vicinity of Lake Victoria, passengers often reach the terminal soaked to the skin, wrecking the positive image visitors could take home with them as security has blocked off vehicle access to the departure terminal apart from diplomatic registered cars and top government officials. None of the other airports in the region, all with similar threat levels, have put such prohibitive measures into place but for years have the pleas of airlines fallen on deaf ears, leading to Entebbe being now perceived as one of the least user friendly airports in Eastern Africa. All the best to the new CAA Board of Directors, who will no doubt have their work cut out for them.
