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CAA scraps multiple desks amid crisis
Travellers arriving at Entebbe International airport in Uganda on March 3, 2020. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
- Sections of the public doubt the reforms will make the airport less prone to scandals.
A raft of reforms instituted by the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to shore up service delivery and combat corruption at Entebbe are looking the part but headwinds continue to hit the country’s only international airport.
There will be no more haggling for yellow fever certificate clearance as respective airlines will handle the same at the time of verifying documents, the CAA says.
The regulator has also scrapped the labour externalisation desk previously run by the Ministry of Labour, Gender and Social Development. The ministry processes every job placement, with thousands destined for the Middle East every year.
But citizens claimed they are asked for kickbacks of about $120 (Shs500,000) to get a clearance certificate to work abroad.
Those going out for such jobs will now be cleared by Immigration, Mr Vianney Luggya, the CAA spokesperson, said.
“The reduction in multiple desks checking for different things reduces the number of staff that a passenger interfaces with, which, in turn, reduces the possibility of the vice recurring,” Mr Luggya told Monitor.
CAA announced last month that it had sanctioned 26 staffers between January 2020 and January 2023. The crimes included aiding human trafficking, smuggling wildlife and illegal travel.
It has also banned agency staffers from using mobile phones. Mr Luggya said the handsets were being used to facilitate corruption as staffers could easily communicate among themselves on what to gain from targeted travellers.
“All uniformed staff from different agencies operating at the airport have been directed to have their names permanently embroidered on their uniforms,” Mr Luggya said.
“This helps a passenger to know exactly who they are dealing with and it eases the reporting/complaint forwarding mechanism. It also checks excesses by some errant staff.”
The Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 vaccination/PCR test check point will also now be handled by airlines at check-in counters.
The CAA last week banned taking photographs and capturing videos in sensitive parts of the airport.
Photography and video recording can be taken in certain areas, or with express permission from the CAA, Gen Katumba Wamala, the Works and Transport minister, tweeted last Friday.
The tweets came just two days after the minister who superintends over the aviation industry had applauded travellers for exposing corruption at the airport on social media.
The photography restriction implies that attempts to secure evidence of the crime was itself a crime.
CAA also publicised mobile numbers for travellers to contact and report incidents. Among them are for the general manager, aviation security chief, operations manager, and airports chief liaison officer.
The Monitor contacted the publicised numbers but while four responded, none called back even as they were told it was a traveller “being frustrated at the airport.”
A general WhatsApp customer care contact availed only coughed up an automated message: “Thank you for contacting CAA, we shall get back to you at the earliest opportunity.”
Mr Luggya said they would look into the particular platform to ensure efficiency.
However, Erute County South MP Jonathan Odur said reducing the number of desks and banning photography is “diversionary”.
“The grand corruption at Entebbe is carefully planned, executed, monitored and protected closely by powerful cartels in government,” Mr Odur said.
