The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has voiced his disappointment with President Museveni, arguing that the sacking of top Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) officials is insufficient to bring justice to the families affected by the Kiteezi disaster. Lukwago insists that the president owes a genuine apology for failing to address the longstanding issues that led to the mismanagement of funds intended for Kiteezi landfill maintenance.
Lukwago’s remarks follow President Museveni’s decision to dismiss key KCCA figures, including Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, Deputy Director Eng. David Luyimbazi, and Director of Public Health Dr. Daniel Okello, after an Inspector General of Government (IGG) report implicated them in criminal negligence.
Museveni cited the IGG’s findings, which revealed gross oversight by the sacked officials, and instructed the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and other crime management agencies to investigate the matter further. However, Lukwago holds Museveni directly responsible for the institutional failures at KCCA, pointing out that the president appointed the very officials now under scrutiny.
He believes that Museveni ignored continuous warnings from local leaders and MPs about the dangerous conditions at Kiteezi. “Museveni ought to apologize to Kiteezi victims for the mess that has been happening at KCCA because he never took vigilance as a head of state, despite the continuous call for something to be done by us, area MPs and the local community leaders of Kiteezi,” Lukwago stated.
Lukwago criticized Museveni’s lack of urgency, arguing that the president should have taken action immediately after the tragedy. “Even after the incident, the president did not take the issue of Kiteezi seriously. From day one, he didn’t show the kind of vigilance required by the Head of State in such a situation. If he was serious, those people were supposed to have been interdicted on the same day of the disaster,” Lukwago added.
The Lord Mayor also emphasized that the KCCA had been spending UGX 4.1 billion annually to maintain the Kiteezi landfill, but instead of proper maintenance, a “mountain of garbage” piled up under the watch of government officials. “But the mere fact that those mountains piled up under the government watch and nothing was being done. Somebody should have been held accountable even before the tragedy happened in the first place,” Lukwago noted.
In addition to his calls for accountability, Lukwago expressed disappointment that the president had not yet visited Kiteezi to meet the affected community. He urged Museveni to engage directly with the victims to fully understand the impact of the disaster and explore more effective solutions.
Following the tragedy, Museveni directed the State House Comptroller to provide financial assistance to the victims’ families, offering UGX 5 million to each family of the deceased and UGX 1 million to those injured.
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It seems we need to have a guided conversation about the job description of a president.
On the one hand, Museveni’s critics claim that too much micromanagement and “orders from above” have negatively impacted the effectiveness of state institutions, weakened the state’s capacity to implement policies, follow procedures, and solve problems in an professional manner using official channels and capacities, without waiting for “orders from above”.
Then, on the other hand, as Ugandans we seem to have normalized handing over all responsibilities to the president… the president is expected to address each and everything… including issues of potholes, kasasiro… each and every thing.
Yes, the president has a very big and important role, but can we please be educated on the job description of a president… it would benefit all of us as Ugandans, to know this information and understand what it means. If we are trusting the president to deal with very big issues such as development, economic transformation, corruption, international relations, succession… is it normal to distract the same president with issues that even have budgets for entire ministries, departments, offices, officials etc set aside to address.
When mosquitoes become too many, Ugandans are quick to start blaming the president. In a properly functioning democracy, even the president’s opinion on various issues doesn’t really carry much weight… because there are properly qualified people being paid, using taxpayers money, to address specific issues which fall within their respective areas of expertise. They know how to hold their presidents accountable for presidential work, and also how to hold all the other civil servants accountable for the work carved out in their respective job descriptions.
We need to know what the real job of the president covers and does not cover, so that we stop routinely dragging him away from his work to come and address issues which are supposed to be addressed by other people… otherwise, we are part of the problem.
We can’t expect, and keep on calling on, the president to do all things at all times, and manage all emergencies concurrently, yet we are the ones who are bitterly complaining that gavumenti has become ineffective and useless.
It also helps people to make more informed decisions about who they vote to become president, and it demystifies the work of the president so that good leaders don’t fear running for president, and people can learn how to hold all their future presidents accountable for presidential things.
Who can initiate and guide that conversation? Andrew Mwenda?