KCCA drafts six more ordinances

In the new ordinances, CCTV cameras will be installed in the city to curb crime. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA.

Kampala- Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has drafted five more ordinances to ease delivery and monitoring of services in the city, Daily Monitor has learnt.

The new ordinances are meant to regulate operations of boda bodas and city law enforcement officers and how CCTV cameras will be installed in the city to curb crime.

The other ordinances are also aimed at checking property standards and maintenance, catering for people with disabilities (PWDs) and regulating KCCA’s fees and charges on property and other related businesses.
Section 8 of the 2010 KCCA Act mandates the authority to make ordinances.

The ordinance on the management of taxis and boda bodas in the city will, among others, look at the identification of the operators, revenue collection, gazetting stages and issuance of operational licences.

“For now, there is no one who can authoritatively command the transport sector in the city because the whole business is unregulated. Recently, the President set a new monthly levy for taxis but there is no legal basis for his directive. It is, therefore, incumbent upon us to make an ordinance because the law gives us powers,” says Mr Erias Lukwago, the Kampala Lord Mayor.

There are no laws regulating the current transport industry in the city. As a result, it has become a hotbed of wrangles, leading to loss of revenue.

The ordinance on law enforcement, according to the KCCA information director, Mr Peter Kauju, will look into the recruitment, deployment, remuneration, training and qualification of those supposed to ensure order in the city.
KCCA law enforcement officers have on several occasions been accused of using force, which has dented the image of the institution.

An ordinance on PWDs intends to cater for access to services. For instance, PWDs have always faulted government on failure to put ramps in buildings for easy access.

Recently, Parliament approved a supplementary budget for the procurement of CCTV cameras to be installed in the city. The ordinance will, therefore, outline how and where the cameras will be installed, their operation, monitoring and the general management, according to Mr Kauju.

The ordinance on property standards and maintenance will look into the current gaps in the construction of city structures.

Many illegal structures in the city have cropped up while others have even collapsed.
The ordinance on city markets seeks to, among others, provide a comprehensive licensing regime for permanent, semi-permanent and temporary markets, harmonise market dues and provide a process through which market leaders can be elected under the term limit setting.

Mr Bruhan Byaruhanga, the chairperson of the KCCA legal affairs committee, which is handling the Bill, says majority of markets in Kampala are plagued by wrangles, which he said paralyses business.

“Majority of city markets were established between the late 1950s and 1960s, but overtime, their capacity has been overpowered by the urban population growth hence increase in the number of vendors who require control by way of regulation,” he says.

Mr Kauju says although they have drafted massive ordinances, only four of them are ready. He says other Bills of Ordinances are also being drafted by the directorate of legal affairs. But he did not reveal when they would be tabled before council. Mr Kaujju notes that when the new bills are passed into law, they will help the city administration to effectively dispense services.