KAMPALA – Parliament’s investigation into alleged corruption at the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) stalled on Wednesday after the authority’s Director General and Accounting Officer, Fred K. Bamwesigye, failed to appear before the Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE).
Bamwesigye reportedly did not attend the proceedings because he was in Berlin, Germany, receiving medical treatment.
The committee, chaired by Muwada Nkunyingi, had summoned UCAA officials to respond to audit queries and allegations contained in a July 17, 2026 presidential directive citing “massive corruption” at the Ministry of Works and Transport and UCAA.
The UCAA delegation was led by Deputy Director General Olive Birungi Lumonya, who told MPs that she had been acting as Director General for 33 days.
“Chair, I have been acting Director General for this position now for 33 days,” Lumonya said.
Before allowing the inquiry to proceed, however, Nkunyingi asked Lumonya to produce the instruments under which she had been appointed and authorised to act.
The chairperson said the committee first needed to establish whether Lumonya had lawfully assumed the powers she was exercising, particularly those associated with the office of the Director General and Accounting Officer.
The issue triggered a broader debate over the legal status of acting appointments at UCAA and whether an acting chief executive automatically assumes the responsibilities of an Accounting Officer.
Under Section 16 of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority Act, Cap. 354, the Deputy Managing Director assists the Managing Director and performs the duties of the Managing Director in the latter’s absence. The Deputy Managing Director is appointed by the responsible minister on the recommendation of the board and is responsible to the Managing Director.
However, the Public Finance Management Act, 2015 places significant responsibilities on an Accounting Officer, including ensuring the regularity and proper use of public funds, authorising commitments, controlling public resources and establishing effective risk-management, internal-control and internal-audit systems.
The law also makes the Accounting Officer personally accountable to Parliament for the activities of the vote.
Lugazi Municipality MP Richard Ssenteza questioned whether Lumonya could automatically assume the role of Accounting Officer merely because Bamwesigye was temporarily absent.
Ssenteza argued that the position could only become vacant where the substantive office-holder had been removed, died or was otherwise permanently unable to continue in office, rather than simply being away temporarily.
The committee’s inquiry is partly based on a presidential directive dated July 17, 2026, which raised allegations of widespread corruption in the Ministry of Works and Transport and UCAA.
According to the directive read before the committee by Lumonya, President Yoweri Museveni cited delays in road construction, repairs and maintenance, including concerns over the Mpigi Expressway, Mubende-Fort Portal and Masaka-Mutukula roads and Jinja Road.
The directive also raised concerns about non-functioning scanners at Entebbe International Airport and alleged attempts to increase the cost of roads associated with preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The President invoked Article 99 of the Constitution, which vests executive authority in the President and provides for its exercise in accordance with the Constitution and other laws of Uganda.
The directive ordered six officials in the Ministry of Works and Transport and UCAA to be “retired in the public interest” and directed them to vacate office and organise handovers.
Among the UCAA officials named were Engineer Soma Ayub, then Director of Airport and Aviation Security; Hellen Wenene Mary, Director of Legal Affairs; and Engineer Ronald Twesigye, identified as Head of the Contracts Committee.
Lumonya told MPs that on July 21, the Ministry of Works and Transport wrote to UCAA’s then Director General, attaching the presidential directive and instructing the authority to implement it.
She said the three UCAA officials subsequently handed over their offices, property and assets.
“Chair and Members, all the said persons have handed over all the properties and assets,” Lumonya said.
Nkunyingi then questioned how their replacements had been appointed in acting capacities.
Lumonya said UCAA had relied on its appointment procedures and Human Resource Manual, adding that she immediately communicated the presidential directive to the UCAA Board.
The allegations also raised concerns among MPs about the risk of portraying the entire authority as corrupt based on allegations against individual officials.
Buzaaya County MP Martin Muzaale Kisule Mugabi questioned why the presidential directive singled out specific officials while subsequent communication appeared to suggest that UCAA as an institution was broadly compromised.
“I believe we have the right people and witnesses before the committee, but I am disturbed that the President identifies the corrupt out of a pool of many people in the entity in question,” Mugabi said.
“If the statement is that UCAA is a rotten entity, full of corrupt people, then should I brand all the officials who are here as corrupt?”
Nkunyingi said the allegations in the presidential directive were consistent with concerns raised by the Auditor General in financial and performance audits of UCAA.
The Office of the Auditor General has conducted a specific audit of UCAA for the 2024/25 financial year, in addition to previous audits of the authority.
Nkunyingi said COSASE was particularly interested in issues relating to underutilised or non-utilised assets, unimplemented projects and procurement-related expenditure.
“The directive from the Head of State also mentions non-functioning scanners. You can see that as we interrogate UCAA, there is a lot to dig deeper,” Nkunyingi said.
Jinja South Division West MP Timothy Batuwa Lusala urged the committee to establish whether UCAA’s internal audit function had previously raised concerns about the conduct of officials who were subsequently removed from office.
“As we interrogate the Auditor General’s report, the questions establishing the legality of the people in the various acting positions will form part of our report,” Batuwa said.
The committee eventually concluded that it could not effectively proceed with the inquiry without resolving questions surrounding UCAA’s leadership and the absence of its substantive Accounting Officer.
Nkunyingi said COSASE would instead conduct a physical inspection of UCAA facilities at Entebbe before deciding when to summon the authority’s board.
“Civil Aviation Authority, we shall do a field visit at your premises in Entebbe tomorrow, Thursday, 20 August 2026, at 8:00 am, and then we shall decide when to engage the Board of Directors for further scrutiny of your operations,” Nkunyingi said.
He warned that the committee would not allow the Ministry of Works and Transport or UCAA to delay the inquiry.
“We cannot allow these two entities, the Ministry of Works and Transport and UCAA, to play with time. We had invited UCAA two weeks ago; they requested to appear today,” he said.
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