Lukwago: We want a professional not political Executive Director

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago has asked President, Yoweri Museveni to a professional executive director and not a politician.

This follows the resignation of Jeniffer Musisi, the incumbent KCCA ED on Monday evening. Her resignation takes effect on December 15th, 2018.

The president is expected to appoint a new executive director in the coming weeks. However, Lukwago who has been at loggerheads with Musisi since she took office, says the president should appoint an executive director who will only come to perform his or her functions as stipulated in the KCCA Act.

He also says the next KCCA ED should be appointed in accordance with the provisions of the law. Section 17 of KCCA Act says “the executive director shall be appointed by the President on the advice of the Public Service Commission.”

“A person shall qualify to be appointed executive director if he or she is of high moral character and proven integrity, and is qualified to be appointed a Permanent Secretary in a Government Ministry.”

In the Public Service Commission, Lukwago said the process is competitive. He argued that the position should be advertised so that people can apply and be scrutinized.

Successful candidates can then be sent to the president for final appointment decision. If this process is followed, Lukwago argued that KCCA will get the best ED.

A special authority meeting convened by Lukwago today resolved that all directorates submit reports to the authority on what has been happening before 15th December. The KCCA Public Account Committee chaired by Bob Kabaziguraka is also expected to submit a report.

The committee is scheduled to meet Musisi on November 2nd on accountability matters. The committee will after write a report to the Lord Mayor. Key issues that the committee is probing include operations of the KCCA legal directorate and the authority technical staff. How technical staff was appointed and how much they are paid the questions that Musisi is expected to answer.

The outgoing Kampala Resident City Commissioner (RCC), Deborah Mbabazi advised council to write a report to the president detailing their resolutions and recommendations on the process of appointing the new executive director.

Lukwago, however, was non-committal on writing a report to the president. He argued that the RCC who directly represents the president at KCCA should communicate what councilors discussed and their recommendations.

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