For a long time, Uganda was that guy on the roadside with a hopeful smile and a raised thumb, begging for a lift. And as everyone knows, when you’re the one being given a lift, there are rules. You don’t complain about the music. You don’t touch the air-conditioning. You don’t ask why the driver likes gospel at 6am. The muggaga controls the vibe, the speed, and sometimes even the weather inside that car.

Then one day, Uganda decided, enough is enough. We are buying our own cars. Better still, planes. A whole airline. A national bird with wings, confidence, and a flag on the tail. Uganda Airlines was born, and for a moment, we felt like we had arrived. No more begging for connections. We were flying ourselves. Direct. Proud. Soft life.

Then… Uganda happened. In recent weeks, Uganda Airlines has been trending for all the wrong reasons. Passengers missed flights. People were stranded at Entebbe with suitcases and dashed dreams. Social media filled up with videos of chaotic check-in counters, mountains of luggage, and confused travelers asking questions no one seemed available to answer. At some point, it looked like staff had temporarily gone on a tea break that never ended.

The airline explained that one of its wide-body aircraft developed technical issues. Fair enough. Machines break. But then came the plot twist: the big plane was replaced with a smaller one, and boarding became first-come, first-served. In aviation terms, this means “if you sneezed, you missed your flight.” Some passengers flew. Others watched history happen. Management assured the public that affected travelers were rebooked or accommodated in hotels according to international standards. Which is comforting, except when you’re learning those standards while sitting on the airport floor refreshing Twitter.

Limited fleet capacity has now become the official scapegoat. One plane sneezes in Lagos, another catches flu in London, and suddenly the entire operation develops a cough. The Uganda Civil Aviation Authority has stepped in to investigate, while Ugandans online conduct their own investigations with better graphics and stronger language.

Then came Andrew Mwenda with the uppercut. Posting on X, he declared the situation beyond even his 2019 doomsday predictions. One plane here, one stuck there, passengers stranded, management allegedly looting, and divine intervention officially ruled out. When commentators start removing God from the equation, you know things are serious. And yet, we love this country. That’s the problem. We love it deeply, stubbornly, even when it keeps tripping over its own shoelaces. Uganda Airlines was supposed to be our glow-up. Instead, it’s currently teaching us patience, humility, and advanced breathing exercises. We wanted to stop begging for lifts. But right now, the car is ours and the engine is knocking.

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