Entebbe International Airport in the Republic of Uganda (Credit: Wikipedia Commons)
By Atwiine Allen – DIPLOMATIC TIMES CORRESPONDENT
KASESE, Western UGANDA – Just about every Ugandan who utilizes Entebbe International Airport has their own painful experience while traveling out of the country and while returning home. The culprit is what many allege is rampant vice among airport workers demanding bribes to travel in and out of Uganda. Also, money and laptops have reportedly been stolen. This is reportedly affecting the international visitors as well. Foreign visitors report luggage being stolen by airport workers, which is creating a bad international image for Uganda. Some aviation workers at Entebbe have reportedly caused passengers to miss flights out of Uganda because they could not either afford the bribes they were asked to pay or refused. Many travelers going abroad have reported that they had all the necessary travel papers, visas, but when they reach Entebbe Airport to depart, airport workers will ask them for “clearance” fees up to $1,000 to get on the flight; or if you don’t pay you will miss your flight. Many people have already borrowed large sums of money just to pay for the airline ticket, many have sold their homes and are planning to move relocate abroad but miss the flight because they did not have money to pay bribes. Another person claimed to have gotten a dream job in Dubai only to have it denied because corrupt immigration officials delayed her flight boarding until she was forced to pay bribes. Social media is rife with videos on Twitter posts in which travelers recount their encounters with corrupt airport officials. Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCVAA), in response to the videos, say it is taking the “regrettable” matter seriously. But what is at the root of this corruption. Is it bad family upbringing? Are airport workers gangsters? I recently sat down with Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, for his opinions of the vice of corruption at our international airpflort. Mr. Johnson made a keen observation in saying he believes some airport who come from bad backgrounds and or upbringing suddenly get a good job at Entebbe and fall prey to all the vice and temptations.
Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
Corruption Attributed to Development and Modernization of Uganda
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO – Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“Personally I attribute corruption to the development of the country. Because corruption has just started in Uganda, it is just around ten years ago and Uganda is almost 57 years old. I just calculated from Uganda independence from 1962. So if we are just 10 years old in corruption this one I just think it is because people are yearning for the growing demands, with the growing development of the country.”
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“Now people are yearning for development and in that process they have now misused it, Because of the infrastructure development people want to put up new houses. And because of the good roads, people want to buy nice vehicles, but they don’t have enough income to buy those vehicles, to build those nice houses. So what happens now is you misuse what you have and eventually are able to put up that development which you want. So at the end of it, you find that you have used money which is not yours, hence corruption.”
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO – Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“I really condemn the vice because it is tainting the image of our country negatively. But what I can see we are also looking at the mindset of the population. What is it that is in your mind, what did you leave behind at home when you got to the job. Some people have a poor background and they end up landing in something (airport job) for which they have not prepared for.”
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO – Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“So although I personally condemn the vice, you also see on the other side that competition of development. It is good to compete for development, but why can’t you move slowly, because you can develop slowly, steadily, though it takes a long period , but you can still develop. But our attitudinal thinking is people want (nice) things quickly.”
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
“Every Ugandan Should Condemn Corruption” – Mr. Johnson
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO – Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“Every Ugandan should condemn corruption, we should condemn it to the highest order. In our communities we must remove that mindset where people are struggling for development and then misusing their offices. Many say that corruption is part of development, but I say that it is not. Because corruption is a crime. “
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
DIPLOMATIC TIMES VIDEO – Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary, speaks with Diplomatic Times East Africa Correspondent Atwiine Allen on the root cause of alleged corruption at Entebbe International Airport and solutions to stop it.
“People need to come Visit Uganda” – Mr. Johnson
The politician said people should not let the alleged corruption at the airport prevent them from visiting Uganda – The Pearl of Africa. He said there are always a few bad apples in every family but that a bad child should never be abandoned but should be reformed to become upstanding Ugandan citizen.
“People need to come to Uganda. People should continue to come to Uganda. It is like it is not good that your child is bad, but you do not abandon that child. No, you make sure that you get to that child to make sure that you make that child a good citizen.”
-Johnson Kamara Kalyasa, the acting Kasese district NRM party chairperson and who also doubles as the publicity secretary.
