President Yoweri Museveni has appointed Veteran Ethiopian aviation expert Girma Wake to take over Uganda Airlines from corrupt and incompetent , Jennifer Bamuturaki who has cused huge loses to Uganda Airlines to the tune of sh 1.02 trillion.
Wake, who is 82, is expected to take up an interim leadership and advisory role while also supporting the process of identifying a permanent chief executive. His appointment, however, remains subject to vetting scheduled for next week.
Wake’s entry into Uganda Airlines is widely seen as a strategic intervention at a time when the airline is grappling with deep-rooted operational, governance, and financial challenges. The carrier has struggled to strike a balance between political expectations and the commercial discipline required to sustain a competitive airline.
A former long-serving chief executive of Ethiopian Airlines, Wake is credited with steering the Addis Ababa-based carrier into becoming Africa’s most profitable and globally competitive airline. During his tenure from 2004 to 2011, Ethiopian Airlines undertook major fleet modernization, expanded its route network, strengthened its standing within the Star Alliance, and entrenched corporate governance systems designed to shield operations from political influence.
Uganda Airlines was relaunched in 2019 with ambitions of enhancing tourism, facilitating trade, and elevating national prestige. Heavy investments followed, including the acquisition of Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft and Airbus A330-800neo wide-body jets, positioning Entebbe as a potential regional aviation hub.
Since its revival in 2019, the Ugandan government has invested approximately Shs 2 trillion into Uganda Airlines.
Despite the high investment, the airline has operated at a loss as below .
- FY 2019/20: Shs 102 billion loss.
- FY 2020/21: Shs 164.6 billion loss.
- FY 2023/24: Shs 237.9 billion net loss.
As of late 2025, cumulative losses were noted at approximately Shs 1.02 trillion.
Bamuturaki’s leadership came under sustained scrutiny, culminating in multiple investigations. These included a probe by Parliament’s Committee on State Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) in 2024, triggered by continued financial underperformance.
More recently, joint investigations by the Criminal Investigations Directorate and the State House Anti-Corruption Unit examined allegations of mismanagement, corruption, and abuse of office. These ran alongside an internal inquiry by the airline’s Board of Directors, which summoned Bamuturaki and her senior management team to respond to accusations ranging from procurement irregularities to decisions blamed for long-term financial losses.
Auditor General reports further highlighted structural weaknesses at the airline, citing uncontrolled salary growth, missing staff structures, and qualification gaps among senior officials.
According to sources, a State House meeting chaired by President Museveni in September last year proved pivotal. Bamuturaki reportedly failed to convince the President with her explanations for the airline’s poor performance and was dismissed from the meeting in frustration—a moment widely believed to have sealed her fate.
At the heart of the COSASE inquiry was the Shs237.8 billion loss recorded in the 2023/2024 financial year. While investigators attributed the losses to mismanagement, inflated payments, and high aircraft maintenance costs, Bamuturaki and her team argued that external factors such as high global jet fuel prices, aircraft leasing costs, spare parts shortages, and depreciation had severely impacted profitability.
Parliamentary committee members, however, faulted the airline for acquiring ageing aircraft without adequately assessing long-term maintenance implications.
Additional allegations included an internal “ticketing scam” that reportedly cost the airline USD 253,189, violations of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Act, embezzlement, and general abuse of office.
Public confidence in the airline further deteriorated over the past year amid frequent flight disruptions. Delays stretching from hours to days, unexplained cancellations, and poor communication with passengers drew sharp criticism.
The Board demanded explanations from management regarding the lack of timely information to stranded passengers and sought detailed records of flight disruptions, the number of affected travelers, and the financial impact of those incidents.
In an internal circular issued earlier this week, Bamuturaki informed staff that the CEO position would soon be advertised and encouraged qualified employees to apply—a move some insiders interpreted as an early signal of her departure or an attempt to manage internal tensions ahead of an official announcement.
However, other sources suggest that the decision to replace her may have come too late, with Wake already identified as the preferred stabilising figure to guide the airline through its next phase.
Wake, born in 1943, remains one of Africa’s most respected aviation managers. Beyond his tenure as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, he later served as board chairman between 2022 and 2023.
For Uganda Airlines, his involvement is being interpreted as more than a temporary fix. It signals an effort to inject professional airline management, commercial discipline, and governance rigor into a carrier long criticised for inefficiency and political interference.
