Vule Airways: Why Ugandans aren’t dancing yet

This November Ugandans have a cause to celebrate the launch of Vule Airways. It’s the new airliner with a typical local touch. Yet citizens may not dance soon!

During the event, owners will perhaps explain what informed choice of the name. But to quick interpreters, it already sends a message of formidability—mapped to distinguish this brand from earlier fickle ones that collapsed easily.

From the stories, you once again feel proud to be Ugandan. They are a music of courage, promise and energy that ears want all day long. They reverberate experience, determination and real capital. Yet citizens may not dance soon!

No gambler dare offers to operate major international air routes at the start of business. That Vule Airways will; that is confidence. No novice knows and plans to serve regional COMESA markets that Uganda needs for agricultural product supplies. That Vule Airways does; that is experience. No firm invests to make its publics proud of identifying with its brand. That Vule has opted to make Uganda the only regional market owning the prestigious passenger sky king—the Boeing 777-200 (B777-200(ER), is extra-ordinary passion. Yet citizens may not dance soon!

After waiting so long, Vule has finally announced to commit a Dash 8-200 entirely for internal flights as well as nearby markets of Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, and Somalia. This is tremendously timely for even the smallest retail business, leave alone expanding the nation’s tourism purse. Yet citizens may not dance soon!

Another Dash 8-400 is dedicated for the critical COMESA zone—Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, and Botswana. Three Boeings of B737-700 s, are to ply not only the greater Africa skies—of Nigeria, Angola, Namibia and South Africa, but, stretch to UAE, India, Israel and Russia. And come the giant: the wide-body 280-seaater B777-200 (ER)—for both scheduled and unscheduled flights to London (UK), Bangkok (Thailand)and Guangzhou (China). Yet citizens may not dance soon!

Not that citizens cannot dance—for indeed its part of their life. They can’t take the label ‘stupid’ for a third time! To what the English shyly say; ‘once bitten, twice shy’, Muslims are point-blank: ‘a wise man is never bitten twice by a sapient in the same trench!” Citizens may be intellectually average, but never wholly stupid. Its why they know when and not to dance.

Inexperienced and, rather, too heedfully loyal to privatization whims, citizens (not all) hastily danced when the national airliner, ‘Uganda Airlines’ was being sacrificed in 2001. It gave way for ‘Air Uganda’, but actually made many mourn over a dozen years later, when, instead of growing, Air Uganda got stunted to finally die in 2014.

To drag citizens on the dance floor this time; the nascent company has something to do: show—don’t simply say you are like the legendary Mu-Vuletree they know—and known to the English as a Mahogany. Only then, they will proudly jig to the tunes of Vule Airways without anyone first blowing a trumpet.

With these private commitments, efforts to revive the national airline, now risk getting quashed and shelved indefinitely. But the new company owners must take precaution: unless you truly share in the agony Ugandans are experiencing without a national airline; don’t dare occupy its space. They need it back!

And beware: clemency has a limit to the usual suspects antagonizing the air transport industry in Uganda!

On the whole, to the new Vule Airways we say: All the best.

Swaib K Nsereko is a Lecturer, Mass Comm Dept, Islamic University in Uganda