Uganda Civil Aviation disowns leaking JKIA roof
The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) has distanced itself from a picture of a leaking roof at an airport.
UCAA says contrary to suggestions on social media, the leaking roof is not at its main airport.
“Please ignore the trending video of an unfortunate situation at an airport in a neighboring country, which some WhatsApp users have wrongly attributed to Entebbe International Airport. Note that this is not Entebbe International Airport,” said the authority via a statement.
Nairobi News can confirm the video was taken at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. Some social media users had, however, claimed the video was taken at the Entebbe airport.
In a related development, the Kenyan government has confirmed that the incident took place at one of the arrival terminals at the JKIA.
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen while acknowledging the blame, heaped blame on former president Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration for supposedly promoting shoddy repairs at the country’s main airport.
“When we got into the office, we found that the projects in the previous regime were substandard. When the renovation was done on Terminal 1C and 1E, it was in a hurry and temporary because there needed to be set up an in-field project which was costly,” the CS said early this week while in Diani.
Murkomen’s sentiments were supported by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
The CS said that the Kenya Kwanza government had spoken to the contractors to redo the job.
“We can’t continue to use the airport as it is. That is why we have a feasibility study ready and the president has said a new terminal will be delivered in less than three years with private contractors.”
The CS toured JKIA on November 15, 2023, and announced the 11-member committee tasked to review the state of all the airports in the country, a move that is meant to facelift the standards of the airports.
JKIA is the country’s main airport, hosting 8-10 million visitors annually.
Also read: Ex-FKF boss Sam Nyamweya rallies Harambee Stars ahead of 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifiers