Minister of Works and Transport, Hon. Gen. Katumba Wamala, has inaugurated a new Board of Directors to oversee the performance of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCCA). Retired Justice Steven Kavuma is the new Chairman of the Board of Directors taking over from Eng. Edward Mike Ndawula.
His appointment and that of the other Board Members was announced on June 3, 2020 following the approval of the appointments by Cabinet. The inauguration ceremony, which also doubled as a farewell to the out-going members of the Board in recognition of their services to the authority in the last three years was held at the Ministry of Works and Transport’s Central Mechanical Workshop.
The other new members of the Board are Mr. Lubowa Moses Paul, Ms Ethel Kamba, Dr. Alayo Ocero and Mr. Thomas James Kiggundu. Board Members who served on the last Board and were returned are Hajji Zubair Musoke, Mrs. Angela Kiryabwire Kanyima and and Mr. James Kubeketerya. The Board’s term of office is three years.
The out going Board Chairman , Eng. Edward M. Ndawula highlighted the achievement registered by the old board which included the development of the Authority’s first Five-year Strategic Plan. The Plan was developed through a participatory process with internal and external stakeholders .
“We are pleased that the Authority managed to amend the Principal Legislation culminating into the CAA (Amendment) Act, 2019, and the Specific Operating Regulations to ensure compliance with international standards and requirement, Certify the National Airline, improve the level of effective implementation of International Security and Safety Standards, and upgrade the aeronautical infrastructure,” Eng Ndawula said.
Over the last three years the Authority registered excellence in the Universal Security Audit Programme (USAP), which won the country the ICAO Council President’s Certificate in Aviation Security, among other accolades. It was the first time Uganda received such recognition after an ICAO audit.
Eng. Ndawula furthered stated that the Authority registered a 22.3% revenue growth during the period from June 2017 to June 2019 before the impact of COVID-19 manifested in 2020. In terms of traffic, international passenger traffic grew at an average annual rate of 8.86% between 2016-2019 yet it had been anticipated to grow at 7.5%. In absolute terms, international passenger traffic grew from 1,535,353 in 2016 to 1,980,922 in 2019. Similarly, cargo traffic grew from 59,558 metric tonnes in 2016 to 64,731 metric tonnes in 2019.
