Lukwago, Kamya fight deepens as talks collapse

Kampala. The differences between Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and the Minister for Kampala, Ms Beti Olive Kamya, may not be be settled soon after efforts for dialogue have collapsed.
Since the start of this year, the Lord Mayor and the minister have not held any one-on-one meetings, neither has Ms Kamya attended council sittings.
The two have been pulling ropes over how the political affairs of Kampala Capital City Authority (KSSC) should be run, with the minister at some time threatening to impeach Mr Lukwago on grounds of incompetence.
Tired with what he called persistent interference and blocking of his foreign trips, Mr Lukwago sued the minister in February and the matter is yet to be resolved by the High Court.
In his suit, Mr Lukwago, among others, pointed out that the minister, without giving reasons, blocked him from attending a World Bank conference in Malaysia where he was invited.
Now, a big disagreement has ensued over a harmonisation meeting between the Lord Mayor, the minister and KCCA executive director Jeniffer Musisi.
The meeting supposed to be held any time this month was initiated by Ms Kamya, who claims it was after a phone conversation with Mr Lukwago.
This newspaper has seen a July 11 letter signed by Ms Kamya inviting the Lord Mayor for that meeting in one week’s time.
Mr Lukwago was supposed to choose the date and venue for the meeting of the three movers of the capital city.
“The purpose of this letter is to remind you to propose a date and venue of the meeting and to urge you to rank the meeting as a priority matter for enabling the smooth running of service delivery to the tax payer. Preferably, the meeting should happen within the next seven (7) working days,” Ms Kamya’s letter reads in part.
But the Lord Mayor has written back, refuting any chance of having that meeting until his suit against Ms Kamya is disposed of by court.
Mr Lukwago accuses the minister of shunning an arbitration process as ordered by court in the ongoing case and also refusing to appear before High Court judge Henrietta Wolayo for cross-examination on Thursday.
“You will recall that during the said telephone conversation, I alluded to the fact that I was constrained to drag you to court on account of your unconventional methods of work, which have compounded up the governance and administrative challenges afflicting the institution,” Mr Lukwago said in the letter.
The Lord Mayor said he was not willing to sit in a meeting with the minister who has refused court arbitration and also refusing to appear on Thursday, leading to an adjournment until July 30, because the presiding judge ruled that she cannot be compelled to go for cross-examination.
“It is against that background that I strongly objected to your proposal of presiding over the harmonisation meeting as indicated in your later to the executive Director dated July 4, 2018,” he wrote.
Mr Lukwago has also reminded the minister of the unresolved matter of his arrears, which accumulated when he was impeached and also the “obnoxious” KCCA Amendment Bill, which she initiated following her appointment by President Museveni.