Uganda’s Aviation Sector passes latest ICAO safety audit with 72.17%

Uganda’s aviation sector has scored 72.17% in an on-site audit conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said the Minister of State for Transport, Fred Byamukama at a news conference held in Kampala on Sept.28.

Byamukama said the international audit was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of Uganda’s safety oversight systems in compliance with the ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs). ICAO conducts such audits every six years.

He said: “At the closing meeting of the audit held on September 18, 2023, ICAO’s Lead Auditor issued the preliminary results for Uganda with a score of 72.17%. The results indicated an overall improvement in the safety performance of the state of Uganda, ranking the state above the regional/Eastern and Southern Africa (ESAF) region average of 55.66% and the global average of 67.68%.”

Byamukama added that the audit score is a vote of confidence in Uganda’s aviation safety system, which shows the entire international aviation community that the country complies with ICAO standards.

The 72.17% score was reached after an assessment of Uganda’s effective implementation of the eight critical elements (CEs) of the State Safety Oversight System as well as the status of compliance with the ICAO SARPS in the eight audit areas, which included Primary Legislation, Organisation, Personnel Licensing, Flight Operations, Airworthiness, Aircraft Accident Investigation, Air Navigation Services, and Aerodrome and Ground Aids.

Uganda has never registered a Significant Safety Concern (SSC). This means the regulator is doing a good job in the certification process of Entebbe International Airport and the re-certification of Uganda Airlines and more.

Byamukama urged regulators and industry stakeholders to maintain the momentum that was exhibited during the on-site audit with the intent of retaining consistency in oversight responsibilities and ensuring a robust state oversight system in the country.

“The ICAO auditors clearly indicated that these are preliminary results,” he said, “The final report with details will be issued by ICAO after six months.”

However, industry practice is that the final results do not usually deviate a lot from the preliminary results.

The last ICAO audit of Uganda in the area of safety was the 2014 ICAO Coordinated Validation Mission (ICVM), in which the state scored 61.64%.

The difference between an ICVM and the recent audit conducted on Uganda is that the objective of the ICVM is to assess and validate the rate of implementation of corrective actions taken in relation to a previous audit, while the USOAP-CMA is a full safety oversight audit.

That Uganda has scored 72.17% in such a comprehensive audit is highly commendable, aviation experts say.