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Soroti, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT| At least 59 students have graduated in various disciplines from the East African Civil Aviation Academy in Soroti, some after spending more than eight years of study.
The graduates include 31 who obtained a Diploma in Piloting, 14 with a Diploma in aircraft maintenance engineering, 12 with certificates in flight operation and two with certificates in airline ground transport pilot license.
Andrew Sanya, one of the pilots who graduated on Friday joined the aviation school in September 2011 for the Commercial Pilot License- CPL, as well as Multi-Engine and Instrument Reading in different modules. He completed his course in 2019, a period he said came with multitudes of challenges.
Capt. Moses Kusasira, a UPDF Officer who graduated with a Diploma in Piloting was sponsored by the Army in 2014 for certificates in Private Pilot License- PPL, Commercial Pilot License- CPL, Multi-Engine- ME and Instrument Reading- IR. He said that the course has enriched him with adequate knowledge not only in piloting but also in aircraft engineering works.
Lt. Col. Ronald Turyamubona, the Director of Soroti East African Civil Aviation Academy said that while the school is conducting training, they are constrained by the registration status of the school.
Gen. Edward Katumba Wamala, the Minister of Works and Transport said that the government is committed to ensuring that the academy survives and is fully registered and managed by the government of Uganda.
The East African Civil Aviation Academy, popularly known as Soroti Flying School was established by a treaty of cooperation of the first East African Community- EAC in 1971 to train pilots and aircraft maintenance engineers mainly for East African Airways through the support of the United Nations Development Program- UNDP and the International Civil Aviation Organization- ICAO.
But the school’s operations deteriorated after the collapse of the EAC in 1977 which led to the withdrawal of funding from the then-three partner states (Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). The academy has since been surviving through the support of the Ugandan government.
Apparently, there are proposals for the government to take over the ownership of the school, which has also attracted dissenting views from the private sector and EAC legislators.
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