Uganda aviation breaking news – Kenya Airways issues statement on ‘Besigye flight’

KENYA AIRWAYS EXPLAINS DENIED BOARDING FOR UGANDAN OPPOSITION LEADER

The CEO of Kenya Airways, Dr. Titus Naikuni, has just released a statement explaining the circumstances under which Ugandan opposition leader Besigye was denied boarding this morning in his attempt to return to Kampala. The Kenyan national airline had received information that the flight would be denied landing in Entebbe, causing the plane to turn back to Nairobi and inconveniencing passengers.

Hence, the passenger was asked to step aside when trying to check in until the airline was able to ascertain from competent authorities at Entebbe International Airport that any aircraft carrying him would be allowed to land, and once that information was at hand the passenger was rebooked on to the late afternoon flight from Nairobi to Entebbe.

The Media Centre in Kampala however sent out a statement to the press that Besigye had apparently declined to travel on the evening flight, further complicating the situation.

Meanwhile have several head of states and government arrived in Entebbe who will witness the swearing in of President Museveni tomorrow at the ceremonial grounds in Kololo and have settled down at the Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo, from where they are also expected to hold bilateral and multilateral talks with their Ugandan hosts.

 

Herebelow is the Kenya Airways statement in full as received just minutes ago:

 

Wednesday 11^th May 2011

Kenya Airways Statement

Kenya Airways would like to confirm to its passengers, customers, investors and the public that Ugandan Opposition Leader Dr. Kizza Besigye is now scheduled to depart on KQ414/11^th May departing Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for Entebbe International Airport at 1750hrs.

Dr. Besigye was earlier denied boarding on KQ 410/11^th May at 0800hrs following information from Kenya Airways internal intelligence sources that the aircraft would not be allowed to land at the Entebbe International Airport if he was on board. Dr. Besigye thus could not board the aircraft as Kenya Airways had to first ascertain this information without inconveniencing the other passengers destined for Entebbe.
The airline has now confirmed and issued Dr. Besigye and his wife tickets to depart Nairobi in the evening. The airline takes earliest opportunity to apologize to Dr. Besigye for any inconveniences caused.

Titus Naikuni

Group Managing Director and CEO

Sent  by:
Chris Karanja
Corporate Communications Manager
Tel. +254-20 +254 20 642 2582 Mob. +254+254 732 845 915
Website:http://www.kenya-airways.com

Uganda aviation news update – Shell’s AVGAS pricing still called ‘exploitation’

SHELL CONTINUES TO RIDE ROUGHSHOD OVER AVIATION FUEL CUSTOMERS

Domestic charter airlines depending on a regular supply of AVGAS to run their aircraft had news from Shell, some say after being stung by acid criticism over their pricing and supply policies in Uganda, when the price for AVGAS came down from a record high of US Dollars 2.71 per litre to 2.51 US Dollars. While aviators generally welcomed the 20 US cents reduction one known for his ‘rapid reaction fire’ commented: ‘these boys from Shell are mocking us surely. They reduce their price to 2.51 US Dollars while in Dar es Salaam the price for AVGAS is 1.60 US Dollars, and even in Nairobi the price is after recent increases US Dollars 1.93 per litre. Do they want to earn another big bonus before they finally depart from their retail business in Uganda at our expense?

A regular source at the Ugandan Civil Aviation Authority commented off the record that the developments in fuel prices, especially for AVGAS which largely ‘drives’ general aviation, has been of great concern to the CAA as they are the ones giving concessions for fuel supplies at airport and aerodromes, saying: ‘we hear about the discrepancies in prices between say Mwanza or Kilimanjaro and Entebbe. Of course this does not make us happy because it makes flying so much more expensive in Uganda. From what I get from the airlines Shell cannot explain why the added distance of transport between Kenya and Uganda should inflate prices so much and it looks a lot like monopolistic exploitation and price fixing.’

Sources in Kajjansi also confirmed that charges for charter flights now reflect the high fuel cost and that leisure flying has reduced, no surprise considering the cost of ‘going up’ for an hour or part thereof.

The Uganda Association of Air Operators is said to be looking into opening a new supply route from Tanzania, where BP is trading AVGAS and said to be willing to explore an onward export to Uganda to finally end the chronic shortages and sell fuel at prices reflecting market developments and not Shell’s arbitrary demands.

Watch this space.

Tanzania news update – Low turnout hits EAC Ecosystems Bill consultations

GOVERNMENT INTIMIDATION BLAMED ON LOW TURNOUT FOR CONSULTATIONS

The present regionwide consultations for the new proposed East African Community Ecosystems Bill also took to Tanzania’s commercial capital of Dar es Salaam, but in contrast to a good turnout elsewhere in the region attendance was reported to have been low, when the meeting kicked off.

Many outspoken critics of the Tanzanian government’s plans to build a highway across the Serengeti, permit a soda ash extraction plant amidst the sole breeding grounds of the lesser flamingo on the shores of Lake Natron, the revival of plans to build a hydro electric dam and power plant at Stiegler’s Gorge in the Selous or the latest revelations that the Tanga Marine Park was to be the site for a major harbour development, opted to stay away from the meeting. Two regular sources from Arusha and Dar es Salaam cited fears, pointing to the government’s campaign to silence the local media and intimidate opponents of their plans who have been called ‘traitors to development’, often a precursor for trumped up criminal charges to get rid of ‘problem people’ alleged to be against the government. It has in the past been repeatedly alleged that TANAPA and SENAPA staff, but also others from different government departments involved, were given gagging orders not to publicly comment and express their disagreement to the Serengeti project in particular, under the threat of losing their jobs if not worse.

‘Some of us cannot afford to be seen. We know that government is shadowing these consultations and may identify us when we speak up in public. Right now we might submit written feedback to the EAC in Arusha about the bill. The new bill is good because even Tanzanian government must obey it when it has been passed and they can then no longer just decide on their own to cut the Serengeti into two or destroy the flamingo breeding grounds on which all of East Africa depends’ said one source using the phone of a third party to avoid tracing the call back to his own number.

Another source also hailed the new EAC draft bill as big progress and then added: ‘we are using the EAC institutions to fight against such projects. Tanzanian courts are not likely to give us hearings but the East African Court will be independent when we take government to court to block the highway, to block the soda ash plant location, to block the Tanga project. Our government thinks it is not accountable to the people but when we have our day in court in Arusha they will see that they cannot act in total isolation and ignore pleas and petitions from all over the world.’

Watch this space to get regular updates on these most controversial issues surrounding a number of planned major projects driven by the Tanzanian government with big global financial and mining interests hiding in the background.

Rwanda news update – Marriott team expected in Kigali

MARRIOTT TEAM EXPECTED IN KIGALI

Information came overnight from Kigali that a team of senior Marriott executives is due to arrive in Rwanda, where they will visit the ongoing building site of the proposed new Kigali Marriott Hotel. While in country they are also expected to hold discussions with government officials and make various courtesy calls on Kigali city officials and government leaders.

The Kigali Marriott Hotel is the first the group will manage in Eastern and Central Africa and maybe a harbinger of things to come, if conventional wisdom stands that global hotel groups, once entering a new market, will always seek a further expansion into that region.

The hotel’s construction is according to a regular source in Kigali advancing well and the hotel is due to ‘soft open’ in the later part of next year, adding much needed top quality facilities to the hospitality scene in Rwanda. The ownership of the hotel is said to comprise of a mainly Chinese business and financial consortium who underwrote the project jointly with local Rwandese partners.

Rwanda has been promoting its capital city as an emerging MICE destination and has embarked in recent years on a deliberate course to provide additional facilities to hold major continental and international meetings in the city, while in a parallel move also expanding capacity on the safari circuit to have corresponding numbers of beds available when the big MICE business starts to come in earnest to the land of a thousand hills.