- They can drag you off plane for failing to pay them – passenger narrates…
As passengers who use Entebbe Airport continue giving their heartbreaking testimonies of how they have been mistreated by corrupt officials at the airport, TOP SECRET decided to dig deep into the matter.
TOP SECRETS has learnt that the airport has four (4) small god who extort money from passengers with a lot of impunity.
“These fellows are the ones who normally drag passengers who have failed to wet their beaks from the plane,” the insider told this newspaper.
An insider who is in the know of the Airport operations narrated to TOP SECRETS how corruption is done under the supervision of some top CAA officials.
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This insider told us that when things get bad, like they are now, these officials sacrifice their juniors and recruit new people.
The insider, on condition of anonymity disclosed that these corrupt airport officials are taking advantage of the bureaucracy of Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MoGLSD).
She revealed that what MoGLSD does is, it asks for a lot of money from recruitment companies for clearing and then sends them to other different agencies like the Ministry of Health which oversees the yellow book and immigration for stamping. All these processes require money.
The insider disclosed that this long process has brewed internal fights at the airport and have led to a number of external labourers and passengers missing their flights.
The insider furthermore asserted that there are people who have been recruited to specifically milk travelers and these people do it with a lot of force and impunity.
“It seems they are recruited by top managers and these managers trust them a lot,” the insider said.
He added that these small gods are given collection targets by those who send them which they have to hit without fail.
“That is why they use all measures so that they can raise both their supervisors’ money and also raise some for themselves,” the insider said.
He added, “someone is told to make Shs.2,000,000 and so the person has to hit around Shs.3,000,000 so that they are able to give the boss his cut and also remain with something.”
The insider contended that there are people who have been working at the Airport for a long time (over 14 years) and have now assumed the position of Demi-gods.
He adduced that these people are now tycoons and are putting up mansions and apartments but surprisingly, they hold small positions in the different organisations that run the airport.
“If one was to look at their salaries, they range between Shs.1,000,000 to Shs.1,500,000 but because they are under the Airport, they are using unconventional tactics to amass wealth. That wouldn’t be a problem, but they are doing it at the cost of soiling the country’s image,” he said.
The insider divulged even after this current public outcry, these demigods may still retain their positions because for a long time, they have been eating with their bosses.
The insider gave TOP SECRETS four people (names withheld to protect our insider); a one P-ia who owns a labour recruitment company as a side business on top of her airport job.
On a good day, she earns around Shs.10 million. She recently finished her building complex along Entebbe Road.
The other is S-via who also is a supervisor for one of the government organizations running the airport.
The third is C-re, a supervisor for one of the intelligence agencies and Gu-iza who is a Police administrator at the Airport.
She asserted that these for demigods have a tendency of intercepting people who have already boarded.
“They are the small gods at the airport and if they come to the airport and find out that an officer they hate from any department has released people, they intercept these people. Such act is only in Uganda, it has never happened in the world. How do you offloading someone from the plane after they have been cleared? It is only one of them who can go to the plane and call out people and yet they already have a stamp to exit the country.”
The insider also maintained that some staff at the Airport are in most cases got from the villages and brought in by their relatives that is why they go ahead and even speak back at prominent people like the Members of Parliament and Ministers because they don’t know them.
GEN KATUMBA THREATENS TO ARREST TOP CAA BOSSES
Senior Works and Transport minister Gen Edward Katumba Wamala has threatened to direct the arrest of top Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) bosses if they fail to stop the ongoing corruption and misbehavior at Entebbe International Airport.
Gen. Katumba told Top Secrets that he has written to the top management at CAA and given them new guidelines on how to fight the corruption and misbehaviour at the airport.
“I told them that if they fail to follow my guidelines and this nonsense continues, I will go for them, not those staff recorded in the cameras, I will order for their arrest,” a tough speaking Gen. Katumba said.
Olive Lumonya the CAA Deputy Director General said that staff are no longer allowed to access their phones.
CAA SPOKESPERSON SPEAKS
Vianne Luggya, the Civil Aviation Association (CAA) Spokesperson told Top Secrets that following the ongoing videos, there are some concerns that are legitimate.
“But also there are some concerns that are not legitimate at all including fake videos, you may have seen one where someone is acting as if he is an officer at the airport and asking very funny questions and in a rude manner but they are representing a correct position of what is happening,” he explained.
Mr. Luggya added that to show that they are not seated, they have started making major changes.
“A case in point, we have reprimanded 26 members of staff from different agencies at the Airport like from CAA, Immigration, Security agencies, cleaning companies and others. So the fact that we have already taken action of dismissal and termination of contracts for others as well as removal of their Airport cards, it shows that we are organising the Airport and addressing passengers’ concerns,” Luggya said.
“We have many staff that are doing a good job but unfortunately because of the few that are doing these things, right now someone may think everyone is like them which is unfortunate and unfair because there are a lot of good testimonies from passengers who have had a good experience. But as a way of dealing with a few problems which are there, we have agreed on a number of actions and changes,” he added.
He adduced that they are thinking of harmonizing and reducing some of the desks so that their roles are performed by other organs. He also emphasized that after the passenger has gone through all the departure clearance processes, they will not allow the passenger to be offloaded or called back for any reason whatsoever.
BY KALAMIRA HOPE
