A storm is brewing at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni ordered the dismissal of 152 staff members deemed unqualified or illegally recruited, an explosive outcome of an internal probe spearheaded by the new Human Resource and Administration Director, Sabah Ahmed Kakooza.
Sources close to the authority reveal that Sabah, who is closely allied to State Minister for Works Fred Byamukama, launched an aggressive investigation into staffing irregularities shortly after taking office.
Her findings uncovered a widespread pattern of improper recruitment, including staff in high-ranking roles who allegedly lacked the necessary academic or professional qualifications.
Sabah’s report, which bypassed the authority’s Director General Fred Bamwesigye and was instead submitted directly to Minister Byamukama, is said to have rattled the top leadership.
Insiders say the HR Director and the DG have long had a strained working relationship, with Sabah reportedly taking her cues from the Minister rather than her immediate superior.
It was Minister Byamukama who personally presented the dossier to President Museveni, prompting the head of state to issue a hard-hitting letter dated June 25, 2025, demanding immediate termination of the 152 implicated staff.
The President expressed outrage over what he termed “massive corruption” and cited a recent embarrassment where Maama Maria Nyerere was trapped for four minutes in an archaic lift at Entebbe International Airport.
“I have received information that there is massive corruption in the UCAA… including recruiting unqualified people for employment. These must be sacked and so should those who recruited them,” Museveni wrote.
While the President’s directive has been lauded by some as a bold step toward cleaning up the aviation sector, others within UCAA are raising concerns about internal politics and procedural fairness.
Long-serving employees, including some with decades of service, now face termination, while critics accuse the HR director of using the probe to consolidate power and sideline perceived loyalists of the Director General.
This development throws UCAA into uncharted waters, as the organization now scrambles to maintain technical operations and regulatory oversight while facing a major shake-up of its human resources.
As tensions escalate between the top brass, aviation watchers are left asking: Is this a long-overdue reckoning for a bloated and compromised institution—or a political purge fueled by internal rivalries?
