Chaos at KCCA council meeting

18 September 2024, 11:54 am

By Ronald Ssemagonja

It has now been nearly a month since the Kiteezi landfill tragedy, which resulted in the loss of over 30 lives and property worth millions of shillings, according to the Uganda Police.

The Government of Uganda has been working to resolve this issue as quickly as possible. One measure taken was to halt waste management companies and others from dumping rubbish at the site. Another step was to establish a committee tasked with finding an alternative location for waste disposal from Kampala and the surrounding metropolitan areas.

Against this background, the Kampala Capital City Authority City Executive Committee was tasked with compiling a report on this matter to present to the KCCA Speaker and Lord Councillors during the sitting. Yesterday, the City Executive Committee (CEC) was expected to present the report on the Kiteezi tragedy to the Councillors, but this did not occur.

According to KCCA Speaker Zahra Maala Luyirika, the CEC members were expected to apologise to the Council for not presenting the report during last week’s sitting, but the CEC refused.

“I want to express my disappointment with what happened in Council. Unfortunately, we have been persistently requesting reports from KCCA without success,” she said. She added, “We have been denied access to the report. What could the hidden agenda be? Instead, they have resorted to intimidating us, which is unacceptable. I want to assure those responsible that we will not be intimidated. This is your time to play politics, and we are aware of your tactics.”

The Speaker stated that she learned about the Shs 100 billion allocated for purchasing land for waste disposal from a TV report, where Deputy Director of KCCA, Eng David Sali Luyimbazi, confirmed the allocation.

The Speaker questioned why new land purchases were being considered when there is already purchased land in Mukono municipality, specifically at Dundu, and in Kasenge. She also confirmed that goons entered the chambers and assaulted the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Nasur Masaaba, and other Lord Councillors. In conclusion, the Speaker announced that no further business would be conducted until this issue is resolved, which is why she decided to adjourn the council meeting.

However, Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura stated that they would not apologise to the Council. “Why should the CEC apologise for the technical team’s failure to produce a report? Does that make sense? Why isn’t the Speaker directing her efforts at the technical team to ensure they do their job? Instead, she is focusing on criticising the CEC and Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. I will not apologise to Zahra,” she said.

City Executive Committee member Hon. John Mary Sebuufu stated that their role is to hold meetings with the executive, make recommendations, and then present them to the Council. He said they had the report ready, but the councillors demanded an apology first, which he said they could not provide, as apologising would imply they had done something wrong, which is not the case.

Lord Councillors expressed their frustration at being disrespected despite being elected by the people, and vowed to continue performing their duties as outlined by the law. Fausta Bitaano Nalubega, the Lord Councillor for Makindye West Division, stated that the recent events would not intimidate them from demanding the Kiteezi report.