Entebbe Airport Security Breach: 13 UCAA Officials Remanded Over Shs3.7b Vandalism Scandal

Thirteen senior officials and technical staff from the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) have been remanded to Kigo Prison following a sweeping security breach and vandalism scandal at Entebbe International Airport that caused estimated direct damages of Shs3.7 billion.

Presiding Chief Magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis ordered the suspects to remain in custody until November 18, 2026, while awaiting a ruling on their bail applications. State prosecutors strongly opposed releasing the accused, citing the risk of compromising ongoing investigations as several co-accused individuals remain at large.

The high-profile defendants include top personnel such as Dr. James Mubiru, Manager of IT; Doreen Atukwase, Principal Systems Support Officer; Richard Mulenzi, Senior Systems Officer; and Engineer Geoffrey Wanyama, Manager of Aerodrome Maintenance, alongside several other technical and security employees.

According to charge sheets from the Aviation Police Station, 12 of the suspects face charges of neglect of duty. Investigators revealed that Dr. Mubiru allegedly failed to supervise his juniors on January 5, 2026, allowing an unauthorized person, Sandra Agaath Namugalwa, to access the secure server room. Atukwase and Mulenzi are accused of mishandling server room keys, enabling the intruder to disconnect check-in counters and flight display screens for two hours. Meanwhile, Engineer Wanyama allegedly failed to repair a faulty biometric lock on the server room door.

The court appearances follow a high-profile crackdown ordered by Works and Transport Minister Fred Byamukama alongside Criminal Investigations Directorate detectives, following intelligence reports of widespread negligence. Investigators noted that between January and June, the airport suffered severe sabotage, including the vandalism of copper cables worth Shs800 million for night landings and the destruction of cargo center lighting systems. Minister Byamukama emphasized that these breaches in heavily guarded zones strongly indicate an inside job by technical staff.

Read the full details in the Daily Monitor.