[UAH] Museveni takeover illegal - Lukwago
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President Museveni this week inched closer to taking over management of Kampala, as Parliament began to consider a controversial report of the Public Service and Local Government parliamentary committee that urges him to do so.
According to the report, all the political and technical officials including the Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and KCCA Executive Director Jennifer Musisi, would have to step aside. Sulaiman Kakaire asked Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago what he would do about the planned takeover.
As the political head of the authority, what is your view about the proposed takeover of KCCA by the president?
Before I give my opinion, let me first give an insight into what people are calling mismanagement that warrants a takeover. You see, a lot has been said about this…. But, as a leader, I decided we take this issue to Parliament. So, we petitioned Parliament to offer a solution.
However, I am disappointed that it has also decided to be cagey on the issue. I don't understand what they are up to because they are interpreting the law in a different way. They are claiming that the law is not clear, which is an absurdity.
You petitioned Parliament and in its wisdom they say the president should take over…
First, I would like to state that we have never at any moment made such a prayer before parliament and I am surprised the committee came up with it… the chairperson claims that [the report] was written in her office, you see there is an invisible hand, and it seems President Museveni wrote it.
But, before we come to that, we have had other issues like accountability in the authority, we have time and again said that the executive director was accountable to the authority. She is supposed to make quarterly reports but she has failed to do so.
You see, she has been doing procurements, a job which is supposed to be done by the contracts committee (which is not in place). Currently, we don't have the physical planning authority and the minister is just there politicking instead of naming people on the authority.
You cannot have any work done without a plan and it is this authority which is supposed to come up with a plan. Our physical plan expired way back in 2004, how can you turn around the city into a modern one when you don't have a valid structural plan?
We got consultants to help us draft a new plan but we are stuck with the recommendations they made because the Metropolitan Physical Planning Authority is also not in place. We are supposed to have the authority's Public Accounts Committee that is supposed to do audits and to this effect, I appointed Hon Oduman Okello as the chairperson but the minister, in conjunction with the executive director and the NRM, frustrated all efforts to have the public accounts committee in place.
I told them that I cannot continue to pass a budget whose funds cannot be monitored. I told them that we need to have an accounting system in place. And, on top of that, the minister purported to disband the district land board illegally.
I have stated these are all vital organs of the authority because the authority cannot work transparently and efficiently without them. But, what I see are deliberate efforts by the NRM to frustrate the functioning of KCCA largely to prepare a ground or get an excuse to take it over.
That is why today Museveni has been governing KCCA through proxies, he has the Minister, ED, her deputy, 10 directors at the divisions plus 10 deputy directors at the divisions, RCC as well as divisional RCCs, and over 1,000 staff who are all appointed by the central government.
So, when I hear that he wants to take over, what more does he want? If he claims that the authority has failed, he is partly responsible because it is his team I have named above that has frustrated everything. So, there is no justification for the takeover; but you have to know that it is Museveni's political machinations that are failing this city.
What do you mean by political machinations?
You see the president behaves like the big brother in the country and he wants to kill all institutions. That is why he is always interested in being in control of everything. When it comes to land, he has the final say, issues of the army, police and to some extent Parliament, you see, that is typical of a banana republic and in my view this country is on the verge of being declared a failed state.
And, so, in that situation, dictatorship becomes inevitable and that is what he wants to do in Kampala. But, he should know that however much the executive authority is vested in him, it has to be exercised in accordance with the law.
The promoters of the takeover claim that the law allows him…
Legally, it is untenable because under Article Five of the Constitution, KCCA is under the President; so who is going to take over from who? There is no law to support it, because even under the law, KCCA is already an agency under the President. Article 202 is about local governments.
Anyway, I am just imagining how a president is going to take over URA, Nema. I think all this explains his failure to win elections in Kampala and I know the pain he is going through although he has failed to appreciate it. But, my sincere advice is, let us do things according to the law because it will justify our actions.
What do you plan on doing if Museveni ultimately takes over KCCA?
No let's not cross the bridge before we reach there. Let's first see how it goes.
You keep blaming the executive director; but your critics claim you have failed to call council meetings.
No way, the good thing is that the public has been seeing what has been taking place. There have been several meetings convened and they have been frustrated by the executive director. For instance, all the meetings I have been calling have been characterized by walkouts, boycotts and the ED is always saying they are illegal, you heard that entire hullabaloo and the evidence is on the wall.
You see, the very people who point fingers at me are the very people who say that I am a ceremonial mayor. Now, what do they want me to do? It is a paradox; it is a contradiction. If you accept that I have powers, then attend meetings.
Have you resolved the issue of salaries?
We have never resolved that. Of course there is no justification for the ED to withhold the emoluments of political leaders and I have nothing to do to that effect.
As a political leader, you made a social contract with the voters, but, two years down the road it seems like your promises are not coming to fruition, how do you hope to account for that?
I don't understand what you people are talking about, I have been in office for two years, President Museveni has been in office for 27 years: what has he done?
My work as lord mayor is about policy formulation, I don't like that stereotype thinking, a mayor does not plant flowers, my work is clear – it is like tomorrow you will ask Parliament [they] have not built roads.
We understand that some councillors are engineering a move to pass a vote of no confidence in you.
Please let's not go to there.
Court ruled last month that KCCA was collecting taxes from commuter taxis illegally; the ED later announced an expected shortfall in the budget. Does this bother you as the political head?
You see I shudder when people claim that there will be a shortfall when taxis don't pay; that is a tragedy. Are we going to rely on taxi collections to turn Kampala into a modern city like London? My God! Why don't people think outside the box?
The central government collects over seven trillion and Kampala was given a special status and it has a vote and I have told these people that why don't you give two per cent of the national budget to Kampala instead of running around to collect charges from taxis, trade licences?
All the taxes reflected in the national budget are coming from businesses in Kampala, not ministries that are eating much into the budget. Why are they collecting direct and indirect taxes? I am not saying that they should not be taxed but the charges have to be reasonable.
Shs 120,000 is too much compared to the money paid by the big commercial structures which are paying little money in trade licences. We have lots of money which has not been collected.
…Why harass matatus? As a leader, we have to look at very many other factors when making decisions. This sector employs many youth…well, it is good to clean the city but it is not good to just chase away people because they also have a right to a livelihood, it is not about decongestion but how do you do it? What alternative have you planned for them?
What do you think should be done to solve Kampala's problem?
The solution lies in building a firm foundation for an institution that will deliver quality service. Political machination, quick fixes and cosmetic changes will not do anything.
Today you can chase away people, taxis or Lukwago but the solution lies in having a viable authority tailored on accountability and governance. Kampala needs a turnaround and it has to be done through a transparent systematic process.
Your supporters claim the lord mayorship was a wrong political move, do you have any regrets?
But who is not lamenting; are judges, teachers, journalists and Parliament also not lamenting? I don't have any regrets. If I am to go to Parliament, I will have the same problems, everyone is suffering except a few who are benefiting from the fraud.
We have to address the crisis as a country and it is a national problem.skakaire@observer.ug
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H.OGWAPITI
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"To announce that there must be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
---Theodore Roosevelt
