KAMPALA: The Uganda Airlines has condemned what it described as disruptive behavior of selling Nsenene, a local delicacy, aboard one of their flights.
The video that has gone viral shows a man vending Nsenene on the flight, giving out the delicacy in kavera.
According to Uganda Airlines, this happened at a time the passengers were boarding, and it was disruptive.
“We don’t condone the acts of the passenger selling Nsenene and low standards of serving it to people who were buying it. We will not take this conduct on board lightly because it undermines the spirit of the National Carrier,” they said in a statement issued on Saturday, 27 November 2021.
“We are in talks with passengers involved, and if there is another occurrence of such conduct on Board, the passenger will be off-loaded without further consideration. No one should be exposed to an unruly market experience on our flight. The unacceptable disruptive behavior prevents the performance of critical duties of the flight crew,” they added.
Nevertheless, the national carrier said it will consider adding the delicacy on their menu in future.
“We have picked lessons from the incident. Some of our customers enjoy Nsenene. We understand that they were not in plenty this season hence the excitement. We are considering adding Nsenene, a Ugandan delicacy, to our menu for regional and international flights on request. This addition of Nsenene on our menu will bring the Ugandan culture to the world. Our key products are people and the experience,” Uganda Airlines said.
“This move will boost tourism marketing and the livelihood of people in the grasshopper value chain going forward,” they added.
Earlier, they were reports that Works minister Gen Katumba Wamala had ordered the suspension of the cabin crew over the matter. But we could not independently verify the claims.