Government gazettes KCCA Amendment Act 2020

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Government has gazetted the Kampala Capital City Authority Amendment Act 2020.

The amendment first introduced before parliament in 2015 was passed in August 2019 and assented by President Museveni December last year.

The amendments put in place the position of Speaker at KCCA which means an authority speaker and division speakers elected by authority and division Councillors respectively.

It also creates an executive committee of four people selected by the Lord Mayor to supervise the day to day work at the authority and at the division.

The Act also separates the council which will completely be for legislative purposes, while the authority remains a corporate body of technical staff and councillors. It also entrusts powers of coordinating physical planning activities in the metropolitan areas in the office of the Ministry of Kampala.

However, these amendments could not be implemented until they are published in the Uganda Gazette.

Following the publication, City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, says they are discussing transition which among others will see the Speakers take over from Mayors when chairing council sittings.

KCCA had set 9th January to conduct elections for the political offices created but this was not possible since the law had not been gazetted yet. KCCA will set new dates for the election.

The Amendments also come with a cost implication at a time when the Authority is complaining about low budget funding.

According to the Acting Executive Director Andrew Kitaka, KCCA needs at least eight billion Shillings to implement the Amendments. Kitaka adds that KCCA needs  3.38 billion Shillings for wages and allowances for the political leaders and  1.76 billion Shillings for support staff.

The speaker shall earn a monthly salary of shillings 13.8 million and the Deputy Speaker 11 million Shillings. The speaker and their deputy will each have a Personal Assistant and a secretary each earning a monthly salary of three million Shillings. They will also have an office assistant and driver each earning  1.1 million Shillings a month.

Speakers from the five divisions shall earn a monthly salary of  9.8 million Shillings while their other office staff shall earn as those of Authority Speakers.

KCCA further needs 1.38 billion Shillings to purchase Vehicles of Fortuner models at  320 million Shillings each for the Authority Speaker and the five-division speakers. Also, 1.5 billion Shillings will be spent on fuel with each vehicle entitled to 90 litres per week.

Kitaka says KCCA will seek a supplementary budget to implement the Amendments. Although he is hopeful that it shall be granted, he says in case it isn’t, they will not be able to implement the law.

All political leaders introduced by the amendment are also entitled to an office. Kitaka says that they will improvise and create space for the officials even if it means partitioning some offices. KCCA currently has a shortage of office space.

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