Awori Copter Flies To S.A.

By Abubaker Mukose PRESIDENTIAL candidate Aggrey Awori yesterday said his helicopter had to be flown out of Tabora back to South Africa after the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) failed to clear it. Awori said his pilot could not wait in Tabora, Tanzania, until next Wednesday, the day CAA was scheduled to reach a final decision on the helicopter. "We met with CAA's Managing Director, Mr. (Ambrose) Akandonda, this afternoon and he agreed to meet us next Wednesday for a final decision. We expect the helicopter here on Friday next week," Awori said. Awori said the helicopter arrived in Tabora on Tuesday and was flown back to Johannesburg yesterday. Awori said his team had planned to have Kibimba, Bugiri district, as his base. He said he thought Kibimba was convenient as a base for connecting to different destinations in the country especially western Uganda and Buganda. He said the two places were expansive and the helicopter would save him time. Awori said they had agreed on the flight plan with CAA for next Friday's flight to Uganda. He said the helicopter would leave Johannesburg for Lilongwe in Malawi, Harare in Zimbabwe and Tabora before flying to Entebbe. He expressed concern over what he called "too much media focus on the chopper other than on his manifesto." "Nobody talks about Museveni's chopper but I don't know what interest is in Awori's," he said. Awori's Jinja task force chairman, Sam Kitanda, on Wednesday announced the arrival of the helicopter in Tabora. A CAA official also confirmed having seen documents about the helicopter that were received from South Africa. Ends