Jenifer Bamuturaki is a Ugandan businesswoman and corporate executive, who has served as the chief executive officer of Uganda Airlines, the national airline of Uganda, since July 2022. Before that, she served as the CEO in an acting capacity, at the same airline.
Background and education
Bamuturaki is Ugandan by birth. After completion of her primary and secondary education, she was admitted to Makerere University, Uganda’s largest public university, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work and Social Administration. She also has qualifications in airline sales from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and qualifications in hotel sales and revenue management. As of August 2022, she was pursuing studies leading to a Master of Public Administration degree, from Makerere University.
Career
As of February 2019, Bamuturaki’s career stretched back nearly 30 years. She started as a guest relations officer at the Kampala Sheraton Hotel. Most of her career has been in marketing, in the hospitality and travel industries. When the defunct Air Uganda was formed in 2007, Bamuturaki joined and served in the sales and later in the marketing departments.
In 2019, when the government of Uganda revived Uganda Airlines, Bamuturaki was hired as the commercial manager of the new airline. However, after the probationary period ended, she was not given a long-term contract. She left the airline to pursue other business interests c. March 2020.
Following the suspension and interdiction of the entire board of directors and many senior management executives at the airline in April 2021, the shareholders recalled Bamuturaki and made her the acting CEO.
Other considerations
With her appointment as CEO, she becomes the first substantive CEO at the airline and the first woman to serve in that position. Ephraim Bagenda and Cornwell Muleya served as acting CEOs before Bamuturaki was named to head the country’s national airline.
In an interview with the New Vision, soon after she was appointed substantive CEO, she outlined three areas, where the airline is focusing in the short and medium terms. The first task is to establish self-ground-handling at Entebbe International Airport, no later than August 2022. The second task is to increase the destinations for the airline’s A330-800 fleet. Destinations under consideration include Kinshasa, Lagos, Accra, Mumbai, and Khartoum. The third task is to attempt to reduce operational costs.
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