By Mulengera Reporters
On the eve of Valentine’s Day, which was Friday 13th February, President Museveni wrote a letter directing Works & Transport Minister Gen Katumba Wamala to work with PSST Ramathan Goobi and the Governing Board to ensure that Ms Jenifer Bamuturaki “immediately” gets out of Uganda Airlines CEO office.
She must also be aided to quickly hand over to Ethiopian expatriate and veteran aviation executive-level manager Girma Wake, through the Governing Board.
In the same one-page letter, a copy of which Mulengera News has seen, Museveni directs that Gen Katumba Wamala works with PSST Ramathan Goobi to ensure that the Governing Board is enabled to “organize for Bamuturaki whatever emoluments that are due to her.”
She must immediately “step aside” and exit the CEO office to enable the 82-year-old Ethiopian, Girma Wake, to take over as Ag. CEO and lead up to the beginning of July, which is the deadline the big man from Rwakitura has tasked and given Gen Katumba Wamala and Ramathan Goobi to ensure that the substantive CEO has been recruited and is in office.
From Gen Museveni’s letter, it’s clear that there is a lot the big man from Rwakitura has been discussing and finding common ground on with Goobi to ensure that the Bamuturaki-inflicted leadership and management chaos at Uganda Airline is urgently rectified.
“I hereby direct that you [Gen Katumba] go ahead and appoint Mr. Girma Wake as a Consultant/Advisor to assist in rectifying a number of management weaknesses in the airline. In addition, he [Wake] is to serve as Acting CEO until we appoint a new CEO by July 2026, as I had agreed with Ramathan,” Museveni’s letter reads in part. “Mr. Girma Wake will work hand in hand with the Board until a substantive Chief Executive Officer is appointed.”
Museveni also makes reference to what he calls “the current leadership and management weaknesses in Uganda Airlines,” which is the clearest indication that he acknowledges that a lot has gone wrong under the Bamuturaki tenure. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
