A group of former Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) employees has written to Parliament’s Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE), seeking an opportunity to present their grievances over what they describe as unfair dismissals.
The petition comes as Parliament continues to scrutinise the circumstances under which dozens of UCAA employees lost their jobs following an audit of their academic qualifications that started in 2023. The audit that resulted into the dismissals followed President Museveni’s directive in 2025 demanding action against staff who gained employment using forged academic credentials.
The investigation and subsequent disciplinary process led to the termination of 82 employees from initially 150 employees flagged with questionable UNEB papers including Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) and Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE).
COSASE Chairperson Muwada Nkunyingi told MPs on Monday that the affected workers had formally written to the committee seeking an audience. The development follows appearance at the commission by UCAA Director General Fred Bamwesigye who explained the action taken against employees whose academic credentials were found wanting.
UCAA’s Human Resource Director Sarah Kakooza told MPs that 82 employees had their contracts terminated after undergoing a disciplinary process and being given a hearing. She said that the affected employees have made efforts before to have their cases redressed in vain.
However, during the parliamentary discussions, some MPs put the number of affected workers at 89, creating a discrepancy over the actual number of employees involved in the purge.
UCAA has maintained that the disciplinary action followed a comprehensive verification of staff academic credentials. Bamwesigye said some employees did not have the academic qualifications required for the positions they held, while others were found to have presented documents that had allegedly been tampered with or were fraudulent.
The UCAA chief said the authority had subjected the affected employees to a disciplinary process before taking action. The COSASE Chairperson has asked UCAA to consider basic interaction and guidance with the affected team to help them in their new life.
The former employees are now seeking to have their side of the story heard by Parliament, with the COSASE petition providing them another avenue to challenge the decisions that led to their dismissal. UCAA officials also told the committee that several of the affected employees had already attempted to have their cases reconsidered through different avenues.
According to the officials, some had reached out to high political offices, while others had approached Parliament, ministers and other institutions with powers to provide redress. During the recent interface with COSASE that was livestreamed by some news outlets, the former employees kept sending messages to the committee chairperson and some MPs over their issues-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
