Buikwe councillors lock CAO, procurement officer out of office
Police officers intervene after Buikwe District councillors closed offices for CAO and Procurement officer on October 24,2019. PHOTO BY DENIS SSEBWAMI
What you need to know:
Buikwe Resident District Commissioner, Ms Jane Frances Kagayi condemned councillors for acting in a barbaric and depraved manner, but took a swipe at Mr Ntulume for not implementing council resolutions .
Work at Buikwe District headquarters was at stand still on Thursday as councillors stormed the offices of Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the District Procurement Officer (DPO) accusing them of running down the district.
Drama unfolded at around 11am when councillors led by Mr David Onyango, a councillor representing Nyenga division closed the offices demanding immediate transfer of the CAO Mr George Ntulume and the DPO Mr Laban Frank Waiswa.
The councillors particularly accuse Mr Ntulume of failing to implement council resolutions while Mr Waiswa is being accused of awarding tenders to private companies to do work in the district without following the laid-down procedures.
They first stormed Mr Waiswa’s office while holding brand new padlocks and when he saw them, he tried to take off, but was surrounded at the doorstep.
They later moved to Mr Ntulume’s office, banged the door and forced their way into the office, but after discovering that he was not inside, they entered the office of his deputy Mr Issa Kitto who tried to calm them down, but they ordered him to close the office and leave, which he did.
“Mr Ntulume must know that we are his bosses, why does he always hesitate to implement what we resolve as council. We asked him [Ntulume] to interdict the procurement officer and urgently carry out investigations on the allegations of corruption and miss use of the office, but he refused. We want the line Ministry to transfer both of them to other districts and the Anti-Corruption Unit of State House should to intervene in this matter,” Mr Onyango said.
They vowed not to allow the CAO and the procurement officer access their offices any more.
“They [Ntulume and Waiswa] have really failed to perform to our expectations. Let them come here only when they are presenting handover reports to their successors,” Mr Onyango said.
“The DPO never advertises tenders and this denies local contractors a chance to participate in the bidding process,” Mr Juma Gizamba, a councillor representing Youth, said.
Buikwe Resident District Commissioner, Ms Jane Frances Kagayi condemned councillors for acting in a barbaric and depraved manner, but took a swipe at Mr Ntulume for not implementing council resolutions .
“What councillors have done is not good, but I also blame the CAO for paying a deaf ear to their concerns. Councillors are supposed to be listened to, I am going to meet both parties and see how we can settle these issues,” she said.
