A significant number of travellers by air are often afraid of flying even under ordinary circumstances. But even the bravest of hearts would be shaken if their destination was Kidepo airfield in the north eastern Ugandan district of Kaabong.
Pilots to this airfield are now forced to use mobile phones to communicate with airfield controllers in Kaabong District after the only radio communication equipment at Kidepo Airfield broke down two months ago, Daily Monitor has learnt.
Kidepo Airfield radio operator John Bosco Omony, told the Minister of Transport and Works, Mr John Nasasira, who visited the airfield on his seven-day inspection tour of the Karamoja sub -region last week that the radio equipment broke down and it is being kept at Kidepo Wildlife centre.
The Minister, who visited the airfield without notice last Thursday, reached the airdrome and found that there was no furniture for the staff, passengers and visitors. “Where did you put the furniture and how do you communicate to the people at Entebbe Airport?” Mr Nasasira asked.
Mr Omony responded; “We communicate using a mobile phone. When a plane is about to leave Entebbe Airport, they call us and inform us that they are coming and when they are about to land at Kidepo, the pilot calls me again to inform me that he is about to land.”
Pilots normally use special radio communication equipment to keep in touch with controllers at their departure point and destination. Asked why Kidepo Airfield uses mobile phones, Mr Omony told the minister that the radio equipment tuner broke down two months ago.
Kidepo Airfield is one of the biggest airfields in Karamoja region and often handles the largest numbers of tourists and United Nations staff who visit the region.
According to airfield officials, about 13 passengers use the airfield a day, but the passengers have to wait in a temporary structure, which also acts as a store for poles.
Moroto Airfield also suffers from similar challenges. Both airfields are managed by the Civil Aviation Authority.
The company contracted to construct an administration block at Moroto Airfield did not complete the work. The officer in charge of the airfield, Mr Kennedy Abaku, however, said he wasn’t aware of many administrative issues because he had just been posted at the airfield.
Part of airfield’s fence has also collapsed, exposing the runway to cattle from the neighbouring areas. When Eng. Nasasira ordered Mr Abaku to call other airfields to test the equipment’s worthiness, the radio couldn’t clearly reach other airfields.
CAA spokesman Ignie Igundura said they have radio communication equipment specifically for Kidepo airfield but added that they are still keeping it at the Uganda Wildlife Authority offices in Kidepo until they complete the construction of an airfield terminal.
“The person you saw using a mobile phone must have been calling someone at the radio. You know our radio is at Uganda Wildlife Authority in Kidepo. But we shall move it when we complete our terminal,” he told Daily Monitor on Monday. ’’In Moroto we are building our terminal and when we finish, it will come with the furniture.”
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