“Hon Minister, I beg you to act decisively on this matter before the situation gets out of control,” reads the concluding bit of Chairman, Uganda National Airlines Company Limited, Perez Godfrey Ahabwe’s letter to Works and Transport Minister, Gen. Katumba Wamala.
Ahabwe, in the October 22, 2021 letter, refers the receiver to a letter in which he wrote to him on May 21, 2021.
The letter, he says was titled “Issues concerning Uganda Airlines and its Board of Directors in particular”
In the said letter, the Board had on October 24, 2019 sat and under Minute 6 (viii), considered the report on staff appraisal and approved the recommendation from management to terminate the contract of Jenifer Bamuturaki Musiime at the end of her probation.
The termination would come basing on grounds below:
Conflict of interest
In mid-2019 or thereabout, Uganda Airlines contracted Abbavator Group, a Kenyan media agency to carry out marketing and media management on the launch of the first two aircrafts and the subsequent launch of the commercial flights.
According to Musiime, the Company was sourced through a direct bidding process.
However, according to Ahabwe, one of the directors of the Company, Mark Odeke, is a Pastor at Musiime’s church.
Secondly, it emerged further that the other director, one Lesalie, is husband of Ada Nshemereirwe, a lady Musiime was fronting to become Uganda Airlines Country manager for Nairobi despite her “zero credentials in aviation industry”.
Ahabwe’s reports revealed that even after a poor performance for the launch of the commercial flights on August 28, 2019, Musiime reportedly kept defending the company and pushed for their pay.
“Even when she had been terminated, she was busy moving from office to office pushing for payment of their claims from the Uganda Airlines,” part of the report reads.
Ahabwe says that he raised the matter before the then minister of state for Transport, Joy Kabatsi.
He says that in his report to Kabatsi, he told her how the company had been sourced singlehandedly by Musiime and thus the contract was not carried out in a competitive and transparent manner.
“The procurement was done by the then Commercial Director, Ms Jennifer Bamuturaki Musiime single handedly which smacked of suspicion of self-interest,” Ahabwe quotes his letter.
Over invoicing, non-payment of media houses
Quoting former Chief Executive Officer, Cornwell Muleya, “Apart from the poor performance on marketing activities, the Company had issues of over invoicing, non-payment of subcontracted media houses and other supplies for services arranged even without permission from the Airlines Accounting Officer at the time.”
For instance, Ahabwe says that at the launch event of receiving the first CRJ900 Bombardier aircrafts, the airline incurred a huge cost of Shs 778 million for hosting 600 guests, an average cost of Shs1.29 million per guest.
“This was excessive and there was no value for money,” the report reads.
Secondly, quoting Muleya, Ahabwe says that at one point Musiime authorized an over invoicing of an amount of US$232, 000 for Abbavater Media agency but that the invoice was raised and approved for US$404,000 when the actual costs were US$172, 000.
“These and other acts prompted the Board to agree to the recommendation by management to terminate the Abbavater contract as well as not confirming Musiime into service.
New development
According to Ahabwe, on February 13, 2019, Musiime, through a deed poll, before Deo Bitaguma, of Bitaguma & Company Advocates, an advocate and Commissioner for Oaths, renounced her names, Musiime Bamuturaki Jennifer and adopted Jenifer Arnold Lenkai.
And on March 6, 2019, the new name was duly registered at Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB). About a month later, she was offered an appointment on contract as Director Commercial at the Uganda Airlines, an offer she accepted.
How she was sourced
Ahabwe report indicates that in 2017, she was invited by Muleya, then a Technical Advisor to Uganda Airlines to draft schedules for Uganda Airlines.
Then in 2018, she was asked to identify an events and media management agency for Uganda Airlines’ future functions.
And on April 1, 2019, she was formerly employed by Uganda Airlines.
Observation
According to the Ahabwe report, Musiime was made aware she would take the docket of Commercial Director at Uganda Airlines, despite her inadequacies. Muleya reportedly insisted on recruiting her on the strength and belief that they worked together at Air Uganda and that she was trainable.
Abbavater was a company registered in Uganda with Odeke as one of the Directors and Group Chief Executive Officer whose first interaction with Musiime was when she was working with Air Uganda.
The pair reportedly ‘fell’ for each other, being the born again pastors that they are. In 2018, Musiime reportedly contacted Odeke for Abbavater to be Uganda Airlines events and media agency beginning with managing the function to receive the first two aircrafts in April 2019.
Musiime’s attachment with Abbavater
According to the report, Musiime strategically adopted Odeke’s name, to Jenifer Arnold Lenkai (reportedly a Masai version of Odeke). However, Ahabwe says in the report that the signature remained the same as that of Musiime.
Baggage Fraud
Currently, Uganda Airlines offers 3 pieces of baggage of 23 kilograms each free on board to its customers destined for Dubai. This, in addition to its promotional fares. This has attracted over 200 passengers flying the airlines.
However, the Ahabwe report says that there are extra pieces of baggage as many as 6 or even 9 offered to some passengers with clearance from the Kampala sales office.
It is suspected that someone is benefiting from the scam given the Airbus can accommodate in excess of 20, 000 tons depending on the number of passengers on board.
According to Ahabwe, the danger here is that the record on board shows the entry but there is no corresponding revenue for the extra load.
Assuming each piece costs US$200 in extra baggage charge, Ahabwe says the company would be losing US$200, 000 in revenue.
Ahabwe argues further, “Assuming there is a deliberate negotiated payment of US$ 100 for each piece, someone is pocketing a whopping US$100, 000 on a one-way flight to Dubai.”
This, Ahabwe says “must be investigated and the culprits brought to book given that the Airline currently has no Revenue Accountant to detect the fraud.
This kind of fraud, Ahabwe says, was the reason the previous Revenue Accountant was terminated.
Juicy deployments
According to Ahabwe, there is a strategic placement of personnel in lucrative outstations. Some of the deployments, Ahabwe says, are questionable.
For instance, the report says Moses Kisembo has been quietly moved to Dubai from Juba. Yet, the report says he was recalled from Juba after causing a financial loss of US$ 10, 000 to the company under suspicious circumstances.
“Even at Entebbe Airport where he had been redeployed, alcohol was smuggled onto a Mogadishu bond flight when he was the duty manager, and physically on duty at the time.
The report says that Musiime’s first assignment after getting the Ag. CEO job was to rescind Muleya’s decision by sending Kisembo back to Juba, yet Ahabwe says the Board had successfully recruited another Country Manager for South Sudan who was awaiting his appointment letter.
The Ahabwe report says that Godfrey Musoke (Duty Manager at Entebbe Airport) having been sourced from Boston, United States for his exceptional skills in aviation but also being fluent in French, German, Spanish and English languages, a very essential asset for Uganda Airlines for its international flights, is being pushed to Kampala sales office “for reasons best known by the Ag. CEO”
“There are other numerous but seemingly small issues that can easily bring down an otherwise promising Uganda Airlines,” Ahabwe says in the report.
Ahabwe says since 2019, Uganda Airlines has been engaging services of a masquerader, Jenifer Bamuturaki Musiime, who he says does not exist in law.
Secondly, Lenkai alias Musiime being part of the Abbavater Group, single handedly sourced by her, influenced its award of contract and went on to inflate an invoice, knowing she was a beneficiary.
Thirdly, Ahabwe says having two different names says a lot about Musiime alias Lenkai’s character.
Against all the above, Ahabwe’s prayer is that: “I beg that you act decisively on the matter before the situation gets out of hand.”