Kampala — THE acting director of Soroti Flying School, Silver Kaija, has been interdicted following reports that he illegally procured aviation fuel, which was abandoned at the institution premises.

In a letter dated October 27, the works ministry's Permanent Secretary, Charles Muganzi, told Kaija: "You are reported to have been involved in a dubious procurement without the knowledge and approval of the contracts committee which is a contravention of the PPDA act 2003."

The letter said Kaija issued a purchase letter and encouraged the dubious suppliers to import unverified goods into the country.

Kaija's woes started when a truck suspected to be loaded with aviation fuel was recently abandoned at the school last month. The tanker remained parked at the academy for 19 days.

An American company, DG International Inc., reportedly supplied the fuel technically referred to as Avgas. Other than Kaija, it was reported that no other official knew about the purchase.

"The irregular procurement, whose exact origin nobody seems to know except you, was a serious, safety and security risk to the academy and to the environs, given the unknown nature of its contents."

According to Muganzi, the "sloppy procurement" was an attempt to cheat the academy by buying cheap, adulterated or expired fuel.

"You did not give them (DG International) a standard bid document specifying the academy's requirements. You thus aided the suppliers by issuing them a letter to serve as a purchase order, which was a reckless act that wrongly committed the Government to an irregular contract that could prove costly," Muganzi told Kaija.

Muganzi also blamed the departure of four senior staff on Kaija's poor management style.