Kasese district halts appointment of land board chairperson

Kasese, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The appointment of Geoffrey Bwambale as the Kasese District Land Board Chairperson has hit a snag. The solicitor general has halted his appointment pending the disposal of the petition before the Inspectorate of Government-IGG challenging his appointment on corruption-related matters.

Last year, Kasese district council approved the appointment of seven members of the district land board. The district subsequently submitted the names to the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development. On March 7th 2022, the district received a letter from the Lands State Minister Dr. Sam Mayanja approving the board members.

On the same day, the clerk to the council received a motion of notice to convene the council to constitute an immediate select committee to invest the allegation of corruption against the newly appointed land board chairperson. This was prior to the receipt of another letter from Wanda, Sakwa and Co Advocates asking the council and district executive committee to immediately reconsider its decision to appoint Bwambale for lack of moral integrity and corruption.

This stemmed from a statement that went viral in February where the former Kasese district speaker, is heard faulting the District Service Commission, Lawrence Turuganya of giving jobs to the four applicants he had presented to him prior to conducting aptitude interviews. On March 9th, the Chief Administrative Officer received a letter requiring the Inspectorate General of Government-IGG to investigate Bwambale for his alleged involvement in influencing the recruitment of Grade III teachers during the last recruitment exercise.

Those objecting to the appointment threatened to sue the district if Bwambale’s appointment is maintained before investigations into the allegations are conducted. Kasese District Chief Administrative Officer-CAO, Asuman Amis Masereka says that following these concerns, he wrote to the Solicitor General-SG for guidance.

He says that SG has directed that Bwambale’s appointment be halted since the matter is already before the IGG. He says prior to this, he caused a meeting with the district executive committee and the implicated officer but he never responded to the accusations against him.

Masereka says that they are complying with the guidance to deter any legal procedures that might be taken against the district. However, he noted that the rest of the other members have taken up their duties.

Bwerere, a former FDC stalwart was among the more than 100 FDC members who crossed to the ruling NRM last year after falling out with the party administration in Kasese.

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