What will end the fights at KCCA?

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is once again a fighting arena as the political wing locks horns with the executive.

Analysts have said the KCCA Act passed in 2010 was unambiguous in terms of who has power over the other between the Lord Mayor and the KCCA executive director. Former mayor Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala said as much in a TV interview.

Now Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago is in fighting mode again accusing the minister for Kampala, Beti Kamya and KCCA Acting ED Andrew Kitaka of disregarding the law.

As Kitaka’s acting tenure ends, Lukwago is applying more political pressure on KCCA and the minister.

Last week, Lukwago and councilors barred Kitaka and his deputy from presenting the budget for KCCA Council budget for 2020/2021 because they are deemed to be illegally in office.

Lukwago says the KCCA budget focuses on recurrent expenditure and ignores community development, capacity building and welfare for the city. The Lord Mayor also accuses KCCA of failing to publish quarterly reports of procurement and disposals for the previous quarter.

Kitaka on the other hand says he is the accounting officer of KCCA and has the mandate to present the KCCA budget to the Council. In an interview with Daily Monitor, Lukwago said Museveni has no clear strategy on KCCA and Kampala as a city.

“I think he is just taking a gamble. Initially he thought he would use outright brutal force by manipulating councilors by bringing all sorts of proxies here in Kampala to eclipse me.”