Following the recent Presidential dismissal of top KCCA officials, including Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, Engineer David Luyimbaz, Deputy Executive Director, and Dr Daniel Okello, Director of Public Health, in response to the findings of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) report on the Kiteezi Landfill disaster.
Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago should be held accountable for failing to fulfil his duties as the Authority’s Political Head, ignoring issues affecting Kampala residents in favour of focusing on the politics and interests of the FDC party, spending the majority of his time on political activism in Katonga. It is noted that Lord Mayor Lukwago has no time for official duties and only goes to the office to pick up fuel and allowances before driving to Katonga, which can be viewed as a waste of taxpayer funds.
The Kampala Capital City Authority Act of 2011 outlines the primary responsibilities of the city’s bosses. The Capital City Authority consists of the Lord Mayor, and the Deputy Lord Mayor, One councillor is directly elected by secret ballot to represent each electoral area in the Capital City using universal adult suffrage. Two councillors represent youth, one of whom must be female; two councillors represent people with disabilities, one of whom must be female; and one-third of the councillors are women.
Section 5 of the Kampala Capital City Act 2011 states that the Kampala Capital City Authority will manage the city on behalf of the central government. Section 6 states that the authority shall be made up of the Lord Mayor and his deputy.
According to Section 11, the Lord Mayor will serve as the city’s political head. According to Section 17, the executive director will serve as the Authority’s chief executive and will be appointed by the President of Uganda. The Act defines the Lord Mayor’s and executive director’s roles in detail, but it makes no mention of the two’s power relationships.
The central government has always tried to fix its side to ensure that Kampala City shines by penalizing those who make mistakes. However, because it lacks a direct mandate to interdict the lord mayor, it has continued to suffer the consequences.
When the Lord Mayor led the campaign to fight the efforts of Mrs Jennifer Musis the former Executive Director of KCCA, H.E. President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni used his constitutional mandate given to him under Article 172 (1) (a) of 1995 and put her aside. President Museveni appointed a new KCCA boss, Mrs Dorothy Kisaka, who was also fired on Tuesday, September 24th, after which the President directed the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and other crime management agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter, focusing on the angle of criminal negligence associated with the distressing Kiteezi Landfill incident.
The president then directed the Public Service Commission to advertise for the positions of Executive Director, Deputy Executive Director, and Director of Public Health, with new officials to be appointed within three months.
Kiteezi Landfill was just a wake-up call for the public, but Kampala City has continued to face numerous challenges as a result of the Lord Mayor’s weakness. While the government works to address the issue, the Lord Mayor remains the political head of Kampala Capital City, which has harmed service delivery.
It is up to the people of Kampala to focus and remove the Lord Mayor in the 2026 general elections, or to immediately impeach him by councillors to save the city, because it has been identified that the Lord Mayor, as the political head of the City, may be suffering from a political syndrome that appears to be beyond repair, but he is equally held accountable for the problems that people face as a result of his poor leadership.
Section 12(1) of the Kampala Capital City Act 2011 states that the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor may be removed from office by a resolution supported by at least two-thirds of all Council members in cases of abuse of office, incompetence, misconduct, or misbehaviour, among other things.
Section 12(3), (a), (b) requires that a petition in writing signed by at least one-third of all Council members be submitted to the Minister for Kampala, outlining and stating the particulars of the conduct or charge, and supported by the necessary documents and evidence, as applicable.
These are the only two ways to save Uganda’s capital from the Machiavellian political syndrome that has decimated the city’s business.
The writer is an NRM Cadre and Media Analyst.
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