ENTEBBE —Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has launched an impassioned defence of

Entebbe International Airport expansion projects after recycled claims of lack of accountability
were once again addressed to various bodies, including the Public Accounts Committee on
Commissions and Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises.

UCAA is once again a target of smear campaign with a regurgitated wave of allegations of
impropriety by bitter employee Mr. Pascal Jabbe Osinde, whose services were terminated
following a court order.

It has now emerged that UCAA may be a victim of it’s own success with strong performance
returns, a headache for some specific players who targeted UCAA and the new Director General
Fred Bamwesigye in the aftermath of the fallout for the top job.

See full statement below

One of the misrepresented issues is in relation to a mix-up in the projects for relocation of the
Karibuni First Class and Business Lounge at Entebbe International Airport, and another for
creation of additional offices on the third floor of the passenger terminal building.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Entebbe International Airport was experiencing

steady passenger traffic growth, which often led to congestion, especially at peak time, and this
impacted the passenger facilitation process. In an effort to decongest the transit concourse, it was
resolved that Jamani Investment Ltd, the proprietor of Karibuni Lounge, should undertake to
relocate their facility from the transit concourse area, and were to finance the construction of their
Business Lounge facility in another area. They were to recoup their investment through rental fee
waivers, a global practice undertaken world over. The Karibuni relocation has not even
commenced (as insinuated in various reports) because the process is yet to be concluded.

In addition, the proposed area where the business/first class lounge is to be relocated to is
currently occupied with staff offices, which were also agreed to be relocated and constructed on
the third floor as an extension to the existing offices. It is on record that structural integrity studies
for the passenger terminal building were carried out by two independent Consultants; Techlab Ltd
and Sentoogo & Partners. All the two reports concluded a satisfactory structural integrity of the
building. The two projects, namely; construction of additional offices on the 3rd floor and
relocation of the business/first class lounge to the 2nd floor, are unfortunately being mixed up.
There is also no extra floor planned to be added on to the existing Terminal Building as alleged.

The two projects are aimed at reducing on congestion in the Transit Concourse, modernizing the
boarding lounges into the current Open Lounge Concept that has improved the passenger
facilitation experience, leading to efficient screening of passengers, and providing a conducive
environment for passengers. The projects will also ensure that the Terminal Building comfortably
accommodates the growing number of
transit passengers following the coming on board of the National Airline. The spacious area
currently occupied by the Karibuni Lounge would thereafter be reconfigured to become a
comfortable waiting area for transit passengers waiting for long hours, thereby making Entebbe
more competitive in terms of passenger facilitation.

The Open Lounge Concept has already been implemented leading to more space for social
distancing within the terminal. It came in handy to address implementation of COVID-19
Standard Operating Procedure requirements, and has not only improved the ambience of the area,
but also been highly appreciated by many stakeholders.

The construction of additional offices on the third floor was subjected to a competitive domestic
public tender and the best evaluated bidder was Seyani Brothers & Co (U) Ltd. at a contract price
of 10,460,210,156/=. The current implementation progress is at 62%. This is contrary to the
unfounded allegation claiming that the project is to cost USD 5 million.
It is important to note that the UCAA Board of Directors were duly informed about the project,
appreciated its rationale and gave it a go ahead to proceed in separate meetings held on June 18,
2019 and July 30, 2020. The Ministry of Works and Transport also cleared the project to proceed.

In relation to land allegations, it ought to be clarified that there were claims by a cultural group,
Mmamba Kakoboza Ssiga Lya Mugula on UCAA land at Entebbe International Airport. Earlier
on, Government allocated Plot M121 located near the airport and measuring 132 Hectares/362.17
acres to UCAA for expansion of aviation facilities. On November 22, 2001, Uganda Land
Commission approved the lease that led to conferment of title to UCAA in October 2003 for a
lease period of 99 years. The land was previously used by Ministry of Agriculture, Animal
Industry and Fisheries, and it comprises the site for the current Entebbe Airport Expansion Project.

The cultural group sought to reclaim a significant portion of the land arguing that they had
customary interest. They asserted that during the construction of the Airport, the colonial regime
compulsorily took over the said land without compensating them. They filed a High Court Civil
Suit No. 595 of 2016 over alleged deprivation of land by the UCAA and the Uganda Land
Commission (ULC). In January 2017, the Plaintiff withdrew the first suit and filed Civil Suit No.
033 of 2017, claiming customary ownership of part of the land measuring 68.113 acres of land
that was allocated to the Authority. UCAA has made use of all possible avenues to ensure that
physical possession of the land is not compromised. When senior officials were summoned to the
Land Commission of inquiry on allegation of unlawful acquisition and eviction of the purported
owners of the land, the Authority wrote to the Uganda Land Commission in February 2019
notifying them of the civil suit and requested them to
handle the claimants’ matter. UCAA was allocated land by Uganda Land Commission so there is
no way that UCAA would compensate/pay any body for land vested to her by another Agency. In
any case, UCAA does not have capacity to pay the 450 billion shillings mentioned in the wild
allegation, given the current responsibilities for safety, security and now COVID-19 compliance in
aviation.
The bulk of the Authority’s land at Regional Airports is secure following an exercise undertaken
for boundary opening and cadastral surveys. While there are some challenges in Lira, most of the
land elsewhere is fenced. Local authorities in Lira encroached on Lira Airfield land prior to 2005.
In the recent past, the District Authority graded a road in close proximity to the runway, which the
Authority stopped in liaison with the Resident District Commissioner. In
collaboration with local leaders in Lira, UCAA agreed to relocate the facility to a new site at Anai,
in Erute county where land was earmarked by Government for an airport development for Lango
sub-region. The current site was to be used for construction of a modern stadium in Lira town,
now City. The current Lira Aerodrome is only 1200 meters long and 30 meters wide,
which is so limited to the extent that only light aircraft are allowed to operate. There are
obstructions, including high rise buildings on either approach to the runway.

The proposed alternative land at Anai stretches over 4 kilometers and has a width of about 1
Kilometer, which is ideal for airport developments. We are, however, still owning Lira Airfield in
its current state until it is decommissioned for other land use.

In line with Government’s plan to upgrade aerodromes at Kasese, Gulu, Arua and Tororo, UCAA
undertook some studies that revealed need for additional land to be acquired for the developments.
The Authority hired survey consultants who worked with local authorities and the Chief
Government Valuer to determine compensation packages, and the compensations were effected.
100% of affected persons were compensated in Gulu, and 99% in Kasese where one person
objected to the values. A section of the compensated people came up after 7 years and claimed
that the values were low. The Chief Government valuer declined to review the already effected
compensations and the matter is in the High Court in Fort portal. In Arua, 97% were compensated
and in Tororo, compensation is approximately 98% complete.

At Arua and Tororo aerodromes, the few pending cases are being reviewed and once finalized, the
Government will be advised to effect payments. The reviews involve multiple stakeholders, such
as the Chief Government Valuer, Administrator General, Local leaders and other land
management authorities.

In relation to land allocations, the Authority follows prescribed procedures and policy to allocate
land to aviation related government service providers and private sector actors on a concessionary
arrangement. Such allocations, include land allocated to Uganda Peoples Defense Air Force at
Soroti for establishment of a military Airbase, land to Uganda Police Air wing (UPF) for the
establishment of a maintenance hangar for their fleet of helicopters at Jinja Aerodrome, and land
to Vine Air, a flying academy at Jinja Aerodrome for establishment of a training facility.

There was also a temporally allocation of land to Dalbit to set up aviation fuel depots at Gulu and
Arua during the time the World Food Program was airlifting humanitarian supplies to South
Sudan.

Government also entered into a memorandum of understanding with

BASE 7 International who are still going through the certification process for setting up an
Aviation Training organization and Aircraft Maintenance facility at Mbarara Aerodrome. It needs
to be clarified that land allocation is aimed at carrying out aviation related activities in a
complimentary manner.
In relation to the project for the upgrade and expansion of Entebbe International Airport, the
Government of Uganda secured funds from the Exim Bank of China for work to be undertaken by
China Communication Construction Company. Government split the loan into 2 phases, with the
1st phase totaling 200 million US Dollars. The Government took a deliberate decision to split the
loan due to limitations of absorption and redundancy, which
would accrue unnecessary interest.

During the phasing, the team took a critical look at the components of the project to fit within the
available funds for the first phase. As a result, the freighter house, which provides office space for
clearing and forwarding agents, could not fit within the available United States Dollars 200
Million for the first phase.

Through a competitive international bidding process, UCAA procured a supervising consultant for
the project, Dar Al Handasah Consultants, one of the leading consulting firms in airport designs
and construction supervision for the last 7 consecutive years, according to Engineering News
Record. The project is well supervised and the project management team in conjunction with
officials from the Ministry of Finance, Planning & Economic Development, Ministry of Works
and Transport were able to renegotiate the unfavorable loan clauses to the advantage of Uganda.

During the 1st Covid-19 lockdown, the team was able to work on 2 runways; the primary runway
17/35 and the secondary runway 12/30 to completion. The overall project is on course and at 75%
level of completion.

In relation to allegations of omissions that necessitated a scope change in the cargo center
project’s construction, it should be clarified that there were no omissions, but changes dictated by
the needs of the dynamic aviation industry whose planning parameters often change due to
changes in technology, customer preferences, global threats and traffic volumes.

The changes addressed new challenges relating to global aviation security and two other critical
factors, namely; Freight Integrators and Transit cargo.

The requirements necessitated a change in design layout to provide for more space for screening
and to ensure departing cargo is in stored compartments or caged under lock and key. These were
new requests from end users that had to be taken care of before operationalizing the facility.

The growth in Freight Integrators cargo also surpassed previous projections. At the time of design
in 2014, cargo operators were occupying a space of 100m2 in the existing cargo building. The
design provided for a space of 200m2 for the freight integrators (double what they were
occupying). At the time of construction in 2019, the freight integrators were occupying a space of
800m2 .

At the moment, one of the freight integrators is even asking for land to establish a hub for East and
Central Africa at Entebbe International Airport. It is therefore super exponential growth that
affected the Authority’s projections and subsequently planning. There is also exponential growth
in transit cargo. At the time of the design, Uganda was not the hub for UN Transit Cargo, and
there was no plan for Uganda to become a UN Transit Cargo hub, which it is now.

In relation to the internally funded re-modification of the Passenger Terminal Building, it was
proposed to improve the departures Area as phase 1 Works and Arrivals Area as phase 2 Works
by constructing two separate buildings as designed by Arch Design Architects.

The phase 1 scope covers remodeling of the existing Departures Area, construction of a new
Departures (Concession) Block, refurbishment and upgrade of the existing Check in Hall and
departure Road, drainage, landscaping, and vehicle parking works.

Following appointment of the Supervising Consultant, Ssentoogo and Partners, Architects and
Planning Consultants, a Review of the Designs was undertaken in consultation with Airport
Stakeholders. It was agreed that instead of two separate buildings, one building should be
constructed incorporating Departures and Arrivals, as it is with the existing Terminal.

The cost of the redesigned project was 49,099,280,704/= in comparison to the original cost of
42,695,016,700/= (as the best evaluated bid price from a competitive open domestic bidding) due
to increase in scope of works aimed at eliminating congestion and eliminating security concerns,
among others.

Upon completion of phase 1, Entebbe Municipal Council Authorities inspected the works and
established that the Departures Floor level was constructed in accordance with the Approved
Drawings under the Public Health Act and the Planning and Building Regulations, and issued the
occupation permit.

Phase 2 works are yet to commence due to current financial constraints caused by the COVID-19
impact. UCAA through the Ministry of Works and Transport requested for government
subvention to cater for the funding gaps.

The allegation of cost inflation is unfounded. The whistleblower also made an unfair comparison
of the project with that of another government agency’s office tower whose scope was totally
different.

Coincidentally, the two projects were executed by the same Contractor, Seyani Brothers and
Company Uganda Limited. The office Tower project for another agency whose cost was being
compared has a total surface area of 42,508m2 at a cost of 129,100,134,329/=, which translates
into a unit rate of 3,037,079/= per square meter. On the other hand, the UCAA project has a total
area of 17,327m2 at a cost of 49,099,280,704 Uganda shillings, which translates into a unit rate of
2,833,686/= per square meter.

With such works, one cannot use the number of floors as a measure of comparison because the
floors are of different areas, have different functionalities, the details and requirements for each
floor is different, and the figures quoted are inaccurate.
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority-CAA has said the first
phase of expanding Entebbe International Airport is currently at 60 percent level of completion.

Uganda secured a loan of $325 million from Exim Bank of China, with $ 200 million earmarked to finance
the first phase of the airport expansion project.

The first phase began in 2014 and is expected to end in 2021 while the last phase will end in 2023. The
entire project will cost shillings 1.1 trillion.

Key elements in the first phase include the construction of a new cargo centre, airside and landside access
roads. The project also involves re-surfacing runways, taxiways and strengthening and expanding the aircraft
parking apron.

The CAA acting Chief Executive Officer and Director-General, Prof David Katuba told Members of
Parliament on the Physical Infrastructure Committee that the new cargo centre is expected to handle cargo
volumes of 100,000 tonnes. It will among others house cooling facilities, auxiliary business outlets and also
have a freight forwarders parlour.

By end of 2019/2020, CAA is supposed to ensure works are at 100 percent completion level for the new
cargo commercial centre, rehabilitation works for Apron 2, resurfacing works for runway 17/35 and its
associated taxiways and reconstruction works for Apron 4.

Entebbe Airport currently handles on average 70,000 tonnes every year, up from 6,600 metric tonnes in
1991.

It is projected that the cargo volumes will increase to 172,000 tonnes by 2033. However, the cargo centre
was initially expected to be completed by end of 2018.

The expansion project is driven by the rising number of passengers handled at Entebbe and also the need to
improve customer experience, safety, security and comply with regulations.

The chairperson Committee on Physical Infrastructure, Robert Ssekitoleeko asked Katuba and CAA officials
to submit a detailed progress report on the expansion project and also highlight areas that need the
intervention of parliament, especially financial support.

Katuba is expected to submit the report next week.

Uganda’s aviation sector stands poised for a significant upgrade as the Uganda Civil Aviation
Authority (UCAA) announced that the expanded apron at Entebbe International Airport will soon
be capable of accommodating up to 100 parked aircraft. This development marks a significant
stride in the nation’s aviation infrastructure, poised to bolster its position on the global aviation
map.
Entebbe Airport’s Expansion

Entebbe International Airport, Uganda’s primary gateway to the outside world, is currently
undergoing a comprehensive upgrade and expansion. The project, led by the China
Communications Construction Company (CCCC), includes the construction of a new terminal
building and the expansion of aprons. The new terminal is scheduled for completion by July 2024.

The expanded apron, as announced by the UCAA, is part of this larger project and its impending
readiness is a key milestone in this expansive initiative. The ability to accommodate up to 100
parked aircraft will significantly increase the airport’s capacity and efficiency, paving the way for
enhanced connectivity and a potential boost in tourism.

Additional Developments at Entebbe

In addition to the apron expansion, the airport will also see the completion of a new cargo center,
and the resurfacing of runways and associated taxiways. These improvements are a part of a
concerted effort to modernize Uganda’s aviation infrastructure and align it with international
standards.

Implications for Uganda

The overhaul of Entebbe International Airport plays a crucial role in Uganda’s economic
development strategy. By enhancing its aviation infrastructure, the country is not only improving
its connectivity but also signaling its readiness to attract global business and tourism. With the
airport’s capacity significantly increased, it is also expected to boost local employment and
stimulate ancillary industries.