Musisi seeks to attach Lukwago’s bank account

Outgoing executive director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Jennifer Musisi and Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago

What you need to know:

  • Pay up. The move comes after the High Court in 2012 dismissed the Lord Mayor’s case against Ms Musisi and ordered him to pay her Shs47m in legal costs.

Kampala. Outgoing executive director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Jennifer Musisi has petitioned court seeking orders to attach Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago’s bank accounts in Tropical Bank to recover Shs47m in legal costs.

In September 2011, Mr Lukwago petitioned court seeking orders to stop Ms Musisi from presenting herself as the head of KCCA and portraying the office of the Lord Mayor as ceremonial.

He also sought orders stopping Ms Musisi from frustrating his efforts to develop strategies and programmess for Kampala and another order compelling her to release a report on the fraudulent disposal of KCCA dispensary on Nkrumah Road, Kampala.

Court order
However, on November 2012, the High Court dismissed Mr Lukwago’s case and ordered him to pay Ms Musisi Shs47m in legal costs.
Justice Eldad Mwangusya (now Supreme Court judge) ruled that Mr Lukwago should have first sought alternative remedies with KCCA instead of running to court to resolve his power struggles with Ms Musisi.

“I have started with this observation because in my view, this is one of those cases where instead of seeking judicial review, the parties should have sought alternative procedures,” Justice Mwangusya ruled.

He added: “A council with legislative powers like this one can handle all these issues and to me, it does not warrant a hearing before alternative remedies are sought.”
Ms Musisi, who announced her resignation on Monday, contends that Mr Lukwago has refused to pay her the costs.

Recovery attempts
“The applicant (Ms Musisi) has made several reminders and demands on the respondent (Mr Lukwago) to pay the decretal sum but the respondent has not been forthcoming on his obligations to settle the decree sum hence this application,” Ms Musisi stated in her affidavit in the Executions Division of the High Court yesterday.

When contacted yesterday, Mr Lukwago claimed that Ms Musisi conspired with a retired judge to secretly get the order for attachment of his account which he did not know about.
He also scoffed at Ms Musisi for frustrating payment of his salary, saying it has accumulated to hundreds of millions in arrears.