MET DEPARTMENT UPGRADED TO MET AUTHORITY
(Posted 26th March 2014)
Coinciding with the World Meteorological Day on 23rd of March did news emerge that the Department for Meteorology in Kampala was upgraded to a fully-fledged Meteorological Authority, with Mr. Robert Rutaagi appointed as new Chairman of the Board of Directors.
The former Met Department and now the new authority is crucially important for aviation services in Uganda and as the Entebbe International Airport is the country’s main hub, made more important by the establishment of the United Nations’ largest airbase, supporting operations in Eastern and Central Africa, weather data are a key component for cockpit crews when planning and filing their flight plan.
It could not be established if the new authority will recruit afresh, in particular a Chief Executive, or if existing staff will all be absorbed by the new authority and transfer from the main public sector payroll to the new corporate body. The department was until now run by a Commissioner in the Ministry of Water and Environment, under which the Met services fall and part of the Ministry’s main operation. It comprised of four main divisions, mainly the station network responsible for collecting, processing and correlating weather data, the training and research division, the weather forecast division and finally the division for data processing and applications. It is expected that the main organizational framework of the new authority will largely incorporate these four key areas and will be set up in line with other international Met services.
