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Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has dragged the Minister for Kampala Beti Tirwomwe, the Executive Director Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Jennifer Musisi, the Attorney General and KCCA to the High Court, seeking orders compelling the respondents to release sh563.4 million he says they owe him in accumulated emoluments and salary arrears.
The sum he is suing for, is for the 30 months period of December 2013 to May 2016.
Lukwago also wants court to declare the conduct of the respondents in continuing to freeze his emoluments without justification as improper in law. He wants further orders be made in respect to pay him damages for the psychological torture, mental anguish and emotion stress he has suffered.
Through his own law firm Lukwago and Company Advocates, the Lord Mayor argues that he was elected on March 14,2011 and took oath of Office on May 20,2011.
He says he diligently executed his obligations amidst challenges, until May 2013 when some authority councilors, together with then Minister for Kampala Frank Tumwebaze, commenced impeachment proceedings against him on grounds of incompetence, abuse of office and misconduct.
However the impeachment process was later declared null and void by High Court Judge Lydia Mugambe and the minister condemned for defying court orders that had stopped the said process.
Lukwago contends that Justice Lydia Mugambe’s order has never been set aside, because the interim order that was issued by Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma as a single judge on March 31,2014 also lapsed.
It is on this basis that the Lord Mayor wants the High Court to quash Minister Kamya’s decision dated January 2, 2017 stopping the remittance of his accumulated emoluments, and also compel Musisi as the accounting officer of KCCA to implement the resolutions dated December 15,2016 and January 10, 2017, where the authority directed that the Lord Mayor’s emoluments be paid immediately.
The matter has been allocated to Justice Patricia Basaza Wasswa.
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editor@independent.co.ug
