PITIFULLY FEW of you may have read Girma Wake’s article in this newspaper the other day, for reasons we all know disappointingly well. 

Fewer yet may have any idea of what he and his team have achieved at Uganda Airlines over the last few months after the change of leadership there.

In his article he used the phrase “Symbol of National Competence” at which point I stopped to physically applaud the idea itself – and later on the article AND the progress made at our national airline since the recent changes started.

Change is not a one-off item – it is continuous, especially at an organisational level (which means the same when you think of your body as an organisation, because it is an organism.) 

Change, in the corporate world, is almost a mantra regardless of what industry you check.

The Girma Wake (pronounced Gee-ri-ma * Wa-kay) story so far is about change that has gone the right way and should be celebrated even this early in the process.

Ahead of his article, he visited the Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to update him on the progress so far.

Uganda Airlines as a symbol of national competence

Uganda Airlines is currently the biggest operator out of Entebbe with 26 flights a day (which will go up in October).

On its own, that statistic is almost amazing, considering how many negative thoughts people have in their heads about this airline, let alone anything else owned by the government and that has the name ‘Uganda’ in it.

And that’s the crux of Girma Wake’s article and the phrase: “Symbol of National Competence”. It is one of the things we urgently need to change about ourselves as a nation – developing more Symbols of National Competence.

He wrote:

“Uganda Airlines belongs to the people of Uganda. It is not the property of a few individuals, nor is it merely another company that can be casually discussed, weakened, or dismissed. It is a strategic national asset. And strategic national assets must be protected.”

“A country must guard what gives it dignity and long-term advantage. No serious nation jokes with its connectivity to the world. No serious nation undermines the institutions that can carry its flag, attract investment, support commerce, and deepen national confidence. Uganda Airlines is one of those institutions.”

And then he explains Ethiopian Airlines and its history being so interwoven with Ethiopia’s history as a country – “Ethiopia’s identity, resilience, and progress. It became more than a passenger transporter. It became a symbol of national competence.“

In short – Be Serious about Uganda Airlines and Be Serious about anything that carries your name and flag.

I have experienced Ethiopian Airlines a number of times before, and Ethiopia as a country, and spoken about this before.

leadership sets the tone

Girma Wake echoes a statement that always plays at the back of my mind since I first heard it: “The tone of an organisation is set from the top.”

One of my favourite people, Melkamu Abebe, said this during his time as my Managing Director here in Uganda. Of course, by his name, you can tell he is also Habesha.

He achieves great success wherever he goes as a leader not because he drives the forklifts and crunches the financials off his laptop – he sets the tone, leads the people, and gets them to do their work efficiently, seriously, and with competence.

That’s what Girma Wake is doing, obviously, since he is neither the one flying those 26 daily flights departing from Entebbe nor serving drinks and meals on the planes.

He set the tone and the results are showing through the organisation. Within just months, Uganda Airlines reports On-Time Performance levels of between 89-100%. This, up from an unimaginably frustrating level that too many of us experienced during the second half of last year. 

The numbers at the airline are highly impressive because of the people that work there – who are mostly Ugandans. In fact, they are mostly the same Ugandans who were working there before Girma Wake took over, doing mostly the same jobs they do now, just as they were before he became Acting CEO.

What changed? Leadership and the attitude that they can make Uganda Airlines a Symbol of National Competence.

The airline and Girma Wake are not our only examples. We might have a couple more but they are still too few.

Kampala Capital City Authority Executive Director Sharifah Buzeki, with Ministers Balaam Barugahara (Local Government) and Fred Byamukama (Works and Transport) are making moves that promise to create more symbols of national competence.

They are ‘only’ the leaders. I used those quotation marks deliberately there.

We must follow – if the path is setting up more symbols of national competence.

Whether it’s national cleaning, getting rid of dangerous public transport vehicles, or holding public officials to account.

We need to keep this change going in all fields, and using Girma Wake’s words paraphrased: Criticise with purpose, not malice. Aim for accountability. Be development partners. Defend a culture of excellence. And, leaders, make decisions for the long-term, not for applause!