The Committee on Commissions Statutory Authorities and State Enterprise (COSASE) has queried why Uganda Airlines hired Abbavater Group Ltd to provide media and advertising services at a cost of Shs174.6m per month yet Star Leo and WMC Africa had quoted lower prices of Shs36m and Shs35m per month respectively
The Committee Chairperson Hon Joel Ssenyonyi believed that the Airline would use one of the two companies that charged less since they are equally good than spending a lot of tax payers money on Abavata.
It should be remembered that on 25th, August, 2022, the former CEO cited a case in which the current overbilled Abbavater Company for US404,000$ (Shs1.5b) when the actual amount contracted was US172,000$ (655m), resulting in a surplus of USD232,000$ (884m).
He told legislators how the Lead Marketing Agency Abavata misappropriated money meant for the media despite the Airline clearing them with the outstanding payment.
Earlier, the committee had discovered that prior to her elevation as CEO, Bamuturaki connived with then acting CEO, Ephraim Kalyebara Bagenda, to give Abbavater Group Limited the Airline branding deal of Shs 2billion without a competitive bidding process.
The former CEO also told the Committee about a robbery that occurred at one of the airline’s stations, only to discover that it was stage managed by the Company’s Procurement manager.
Muleya also revealed how $1 million US dollars were discovered from Airline employees involved in issuing void tickets.