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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Ordinary Council sitting of the Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA, which was scheduled for Tuesday, failed to proceed due to the absence of the required quorum.
According to the KCCA Act, a minimum of 27 councilors out of the 54 representatives of the people of Kampala are needed for a sitting to take place. Although special council sittings have been held to address emergent issues, this marks the second time this year and the third time since the current leadership assumed office in 2021 that a council meeting has been unsuccessful.
The agenda for the sitting included receiving performance reports from various directorates for the previous financial year and the first half of the current year. Additionally, discussions were to be held on customizing the house’s standard rules of procedure.
Another important matter to be addressed was the Kampala Capital City Ordinance on outdoor advertisement, as the authority recently lost a court case due to its absence. The meeting, presided over by Speaker Zahra Maala Luyirika, was scheduled to commence at 10 am.
However, it was brought to the speaker’s attention that there was no quorum. The National Unity Platform Party chief whip, Moses Kataabu, who leads the majority in the house, was given 15 minutes, as required by law, to mobilize his members to attend the council meeting.
After the 15-minute period elapsed, only 20 members were present, which was still insufficient for the meeting to commence. The speaker granted an additional 15 minutes for further mobilization, as permitted by the law. However, by the end of this extended period, only one more member had joined, bringing the total attendance to 22.
Consequently, the meeting had to be adjourned indefinitely. Following the adjournment, Moses Kataabu, the majority chief whip, expressed his disappointment with the members’ failure to adhere to the scheduled time, especially considering the significance of the matters to be discussed.
“I am sure that the members are coming, just within the corridors on their way here, but the council has to be guided by the rules of procedure which only allow 15 minutes of waiting when the speaker is around. As the majority leader, I will call a caucus meeting and bring my house to order,” he said.
As the majority, he emphasized the need to address timekeeping issues among their members. In a statement to journalists after the adjournment, Nasur Masaaba, the Deputy Speaker, expressed concern as the office responsible for adjudicating council matters.
He highlighted that crucial issues directly affecting the people of Kampala were not being addressed due to such occurrences. Masaaba stated that there are ongoing challenges with some technicalities among the council members but assured that the council leadership would take measures to address these issues and ensure order.
“We have been encouraging our colleagues to improve their response to council matters, including timekeeping. Today, the speaker had to take action within the procedure to remind members that serving the people should be our top priority,” Masaaba explained.
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