Councillors reject proposal to amend law

Kampala.
City councillors have rejected the proposal to amend the Kampala Capital City Authority Act 2010, saying the process requires sufficient time for consultations.

“We could not approve the proposal because there are a number of stakeholders we need to consult for inputs in the amendments. We want the process to be rigorous such that there is no feel of compromise,” Makerere councillor Bernard Luyiga said last week at a retreat in Entebbe.

This was after Mr Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister for Presidency and Kampala, presented the proposal before the councillors.

The female councillor for People Living with Disability, Ms Joyce Achan, said the proposal was presented to them unprepared and at the same time most councillors had not carried the KCCA Act.

“Capturing our views for inclusion in the draft amendment of the KCCA Act was good but it was not on the agenda we had but simply found it at the retreat. So, we asked the minister allow us consult on the matter,” Ms Achan said.

Efforts to get a comment from the minister were futile as his known phone numbers went unanswered.

However, Mr Tumwebaze reportedly agreed to the councillors’ argument and formed a select committee to collect views from the stakeholders, which will be included in the draft proposal of the KCCA Act amendment and tabled before Parliament.

The retreat also reportedly discussed the five-year strategic plan of KCCA and reports on revenue and audit working groups, respectively.
On March 4, Mr Tumwebaze directed councillors to constitute five interim working groups to execute duties of the mandatory standing committees.

The committees have not been working since 2012 when their mandate expired.

Recommendation
Justice Catherine Bamugemereire, the author of the KCCA tribunal report, recommended that the KCCA Act be amended to provide a clear distinction between the powers of the political and the technical wings.

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