Airlines defend DR Congo flights

By Milton OlupotTHE Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) officials yesterday told the Porter commission that the three airline companies chartered by the defence ministry for flights into the Democratic Republic of Congo made all the flights paid for.Andrew Musoke, the director Air Navigation and Regulatory Services, who appeared before the commission at the International Conference centre yesterday withdrew the CAA implication that some flights could have been fictitious.Knight Aviation, United Airlines and Eagle Aviation have produced all the air flight invoices to bolster their case. CAA that also traced records of the flights, could still not account for two flights made by Knight Aviation on January 13 and 25, 1999.Musoke said they were still verifying the two flights. Andrew Rugasira, the Knight Aviation proprietor, asked why the CAA officials could not trace the two flights when they were made according to the usual procedure like all others.The CAA officials also told the commission, chaired by Justice David Porter, that CAA flouted the 1944 Chicago Convention, which is the International Aviation convention, by allowing civilian flights into the Congo through the Military Airbase at Entebbe. Samuel Muneza, the Regulations and Air Traffic Services Manager, said, “because of the difficulties we faced, we wrote to the Ministry of Defence, addressed to Col. Kahinda Otafiire, over the issue of civilian aircraft operating in DR Congo.“We were told, ‘don’t you know that we have our forces who need supplies in Congo,’ so our MD said from that time any flight there will be regarded as a military flight and not civilian.”Porter angrily asked, “I am interested in the law, what did Parliament ask CAA to do? CAA was aware that civil aircraft were flying from the military airbase, was this correct?” “It was not allowed. It was a violation of Article 1 of the Convention,” Muneza replied. He said both the Congo and Uganda were signatories to the Convention.Commissioner Justice Joseph Berko wondered if the cocoa, which the civilian aircraft used to fly from Congo to Entebbe, was also regarded as military supplies. But Muneza said they did not have the mandate to inspect whatever was being carried in the aircraft.