Aggrey Awori gets chopper for campaign

By Alfred Wasike PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Aggrey Awori has acquired a helicopter from the US for his campaign. He said this will help him "effectively cover the country in preparation for the presidential elections and revolutionise campaigning in Uganda." Awori said, "I have decided to import a helicopter to facilitate our campaigns nationally to dislodge Museveni's dictatorship. We are bringing into the country a six-seater Bell helicopter very soon. It will arrive in about two or three weeks. I am telling you that we are going to effectively cover the country in preparation for the elections and revolutionise campaigning in Uganda for ever," the multi-party activist told The New Vision in an interview yesterday. The Samia-Bugwe North MP returned to Uganda on November 16 after a six- month-tour of the US. He said, "It (helicopter) is a donation from one of my old boys at Harvard University. I will not tell you his name but he gave us the helicopter to facilitate our campaigns. But this helicopter is just one of the very many strategies that we have in store. Awori said the aircraft is in excellent working condition and that it had been used for inspecting oil pipelines in the USA. "I am now making arrangements for it to be put in a crate and flown to Entebbe for assembling. I am going to foot the cost of fixing and maintaining it," Awori said. He also said, "But my preparations will depend on the Ugandan CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) permission. I have applied for permission. I have submitted technical details like frequencies to them. I hope they will process my application expeditiously so that we can reach out to the people." Awori said he had arranged for a flight engineer from the USA but two Ugandan pilots will also be hired. But highly placed sources in the CAA's aircraft inspectorate department said they had not yet received Awori's application. "We licence all civilian aircraft to fly in our skies. We have not yet received his application," the sources said. Awori used an aircraft during his campaign for the Samia Bugwe North seat in 1996. Aviation experts told The New Vision that Bell helicopters are manufactured in the USA and others are assembled in Canada and Italy. The experts said a brand-new Bell helicopter costs at least US$1.5m (about sh3b) while a second-hand onecosts $75,000 (about sh1.5b). "They are very versatile and all weather aircraft. They can almost land anywhere. The Police Airwing has one or two helicopters manufactured by Bell," the sources said. Awori begins his consultative meetings in Tororo and Mbale today and in Gulu on Saturday. Kapchorwa, Kumi, Nebbi, Arua, Adjumani, Kabarole and Kasese meetings follow later. Ends.