The fight has been erupted in the ministry of Works and Transport between senior minister, Gen Edward Katumba Wamala and his junior minister Joy Kafula Kabatsi over the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA’s) top job.

Multiple credible sources in the ministry have intimated to the theGrapevine that the fight kicked off when Gen Katumba cancelled Kabatsi’s prayer recommending Fred Bamwesigye, the acting Director General of the CAA to take over the office in full capacity.

Sources added that Kabatsi explained to Gen Katumba that Bamwesigye was supposed to be in office in the acting capacity for only six months which have already elapsed and he should be officially appointed as the full Director General.

After reading Kabatsi’s letter, Gen Katumba directed her to advertise the job for other people to compete for it other than ringfencing it for Bamwesigye.

Kabatsi was very bitter and she insisted that the man should be appointed otherwise she was going to report Gen Katumba to the first lady Janet Kataha Museveni who is also a minister of education and sports, the source said.

He further revealed that Gen Katumba rubbished Kabatsi’s threats and directed that CAA’s top job be advertised and it indeed, it was advertised in the New Vision’s monday paper.

When contacted, minister Kabatsi confirmed that there was “a small misunderstanding but was resolved.” “What I advocated for was that before you advertise a job to the world, you have to first applaud the Director General who was there for more than six months and he has to be appraised by the board,” she explained.

“Then I told them to first advertise the job internally because we have good directors who are very specialised and they know quite a lot. When you bring someone from outside, it means you have to first train such a person,” she added.

She further explained that the office of the Director General was not necessarily ring-fenced for Bamwesigye, because if advertised internally, even other “inside” members of staff were allowed to fairly compete for the job.

She denied allegations that she has a relationship with Bamwesigye, noting that they only met in the ministry after being appointed as a minister. She was also accused of having a relationship with Gen Katumba, who she threatened to report to the first lady.

The no-nonsense lady confirmed that it was agreed with Gen Katumba that the process of recruiting a new Director General of the CAA be refreshed and the Acting Director General be given a chance to be assessed by the board, and the job advertised internally before being advertised “outside” for everyone.

Efforts to reach out to Gen Katumba were futile since he was not picking up his known telephone numbers.

It should be noted that Bamwesigye was the human resource of CAA before he was appointed the Director General after the retirement of Professor David Mpango Kakuba.

By Alirabaki Sengooba