Members of Parliament on the Public accounts Committee, Commission Statutory and State Enterprises Committee (COSASE) have questioned salary disparities at the Uganda Airlines.
The committee chaired by the Nakawa West MP Joel Ssenyonyi, on Tuesday afternoon interfaced with officials from the Uganda Airlines led by the CEO Jennifer Bamuturaki.
It was established that the besides salary structure being uneven among employees at the same level, the monies paid to workers is huge.
According to the Auditor General’s report, during the period under review, the Airlines budgeted to incur Shillings 22.329 billion on salaries but, review of the Financial Statements and payrolls for the same period indicated that Shillings 27.428 was incurred in respect of salaries and staff expenses, implying an excess expenditure Shillings 4.919 billion.
The Auditor General revealed that the financial analysis of the Airlines, it made losses for the FY2019/2020 and 2020/2021 amounting to Shillings 102.442 and 164.573 billion respectively.
According monthly salary records presented before the committee, the CEO earns 87 m , Chief Financial Officer gets 73 m, Manager Finance earns 58 m. Director maintenance 80 m. Others are; Manager IT 36 m, HR 43 m, Manager Cargo 14 m, Quality Ass. 43 m.
The committee was also concerned as to why a section of Pilots earn 60 m while their colleagues at the same level are earning only 50 million shillings. Also some Cabin Crew members earn 4 m, while others earn 2m.
The CEO Bamuturaki, acknowledged the disparities and huge pay checks but also noted that the Airbus has a different pay structure from the CRJ Bombardier. She further explained that they are currently reviewing these salaries.
Bamuturaki, also stated that she was not among the 40 Ugandans who applied for the job because she was appointed by the President moments before she applied.
She asked the committee to permit them more time to do consultations before