- The Ugandan members of parliament have expressed fury over the planned concession of Entebbe International Airport to a foreign investor, alleging suspicious handling of the deal.
The MPs said the government must come clean and explain why Parliament is often ignored when such deals are made. “We demanded to know if the country was up for sale so we can seek citizenship elsewhere,” the MPs said angrily.
Local reports said the chairperson of the parliamentary committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises, Reagan Okumu, has written to the Civil Aviation Authority demanding a brief about the sale and what benefits the government expects.
The MPs aid they have a right to seek an explanation from the government, further saying the government owed the nation an explanation if the bidding process was publicised.
The MPs said they learnt of the airport sale from the press. “The government is in its advanced stages of handing over management of Entebbe Airport to a foreign investor,” the MPs accused.
According to the reports, the company would be given a 10 year concession to manage the country’s only international airport.
The government’s technical team approved the investment plan.
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act mandates public institutions to call for bids before selling out public properties and assets.
The government has said the concession will improve services at the airport, but has been accused of a terrible record of handing out the country’s jewels to crooked foreign investors or cronies of the regime through underhand privatisation schemes.
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