A fresh crisis is unfolding at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA), with workers threatening industrial action over what they describe as a forceful and illegal attempt by the Board of Directors to scrap the long-standing internal medical scheme and replace it with an expensive external insurance arrangement.
The dispute adds to the growing turmoil at the Authority, which is already reeling from the controversial dismissal of staff and allegations of widespread irregularities in recruitment.
At the heart of the latest standoff is UCAA’s in-house medical scheme, a system established under a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between management and workers’ unions.
The scheme has, for years, provided unlimited inpatient cover for staff and up to six biological or legally adopted children, while outpatient care has remained capped at shs 1 million since 2013.
Despite longstanding demands by staff to increase the outpatient limit, the Board has instead moved to abolish the entire scheme and replace it with a private insurance model, reportedly over four times more expensive.
Workers argue that the internal scheme is efficient, reliable, and tailored to the urgent nature of aviation work, where delays in accessing treatment can disrupt operations and compromise safety.
“This scheme has worked for years. What staff asked for was improvement not replacement,” a source within UCAA revealed.
The Board, chaired by retired Deputy Chief Justice Stephen Kavuma, claims that staff prefer the insurance model.
However, insiders say a survey conducted even after sensitization campaigns showed that over 80% of employees still preferred the in-house medical system.
In a bid to find middle ground, both management and the workers’ union, through the Central Negotiating Council (CNC), agreed on a hybrid approach, allowing both schemes to run concurrently so employees could choose.
But the Board reportedly rejected this compromise, insisting on a mandatory migration to insurance effective April 2026.
Even more controversially, management has already begun communicating the forced transition, including changes that lower the maximum age of beneficiary children, contrary to protections enshrined in the CBA.
Documents seen by this publication, including guidance from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development , caution that terms under a Collective Bargaining Agreement cannot be altered unilaterally without mutual consent, raising serious legal questions about the Board’s actions.
The situation has been further inflamed by allegations that some board members have already received hefty kickbacks from insurance firms competing for the deal, effectively locking them into pushing the scheme through.
“The health and lives of staff are being gambled. This is no longer about policy it’s about money,” a source said.
The workers’ union is set to convene an emergency meeting to determine the next course of action, with industrial action now a real possibility.
Analysts warn that any disruption at UCAA could have serious implications for operations at Entebbe International Airport, Uganda’s main aviation hub.
This latest standoff not only exposes deep cracks within UCAA’s governance but also raises broader concerns about compliance with labour laws, transparency in procurement, and the prioritisation of worker welfare.
As tensions rise, all eyes are now on whether authorities will intervene or whether the situation will spiral into a full-blown crisis affecting the country’s aviation sector.
