Does KCCA payroll match service delivery?

Kampala. President Museveni’s consideration of reducing salaries of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) technocrats after criticising the authority’s former executive director, Ms Jennifer Musisi, of incompetence, has resurrected debate on whether the officials deserve their pay.

While addressing representatives of Uganda National Teachers Union on Sunday, the President faulted Ms Musisi for failing to clean up the city despite being allocated a big budget.
“I paid Musisi too much money thinking that she would clean Kampala, but she didn’t. But this is a simple sin, I can repent it and with withdraw salaries from city council so that they go back to fixed salaries,” Mr Museveni said.

The comments contrast those he made in October 2011 when he praised Ms Musisi for fixing Kampala barely six months after she was appointed.
“Kampala was disorganised and was a centre of dirt and theft but she has cleaned the drainages already,” Mr Museveni said then.
But shortly after the 2016 General Election, he blamed his Kampala loss on Ms Musisi’s iron hand to frustrate his voters. Ms Musisi retired last October, citing, among others, political interference and funding deficits.

Scorecard
Upon her appointment, the KCCA budget almost tripled, dwarfing that of its predecessor, Kampala City Council (KCC). The latter was operating on a Shs40b budget while KCCA’s first in FY2011/12 was Shs101b.
“We used to get conditional grant from government and we would also collect taxes which brought our annual budget to about Shs70b,” Mr Benard Luyiga, a former KCC councillor, said.
The authority is currently operating on a Shs477b budget.
Ms Musisi also set huge salaries for her team, arguing that the increment would motivate staff to work hard and avoid taking bribes.
KCCA’s payroll structure indicates that the executive director is paid Shs36m, deputy executive director (Shs27m), director (Shs22m). Lord Mayor (Shs18.7m) Deputy Lord Mayor (Shs13m) and KCCA councillor (Shs4.4m).

Despite the pay, there is still public uproar about poor service delivery.
But in her resignation letter, Ms Musisi stated that she made Kampala better. “KCCA currently collects about Shs100b in non-tax revenue annually, up from Shs40b when it took over the city management about eight years ago,” she stated.
She also noted that 170-bed hospitals were constructed in Makindye and Kawempe divisions, adding that KCCA records a 90 per cent child immunisation and 62 per cent increase in delivery of babies.

Gaps
However, the authority still has a lot on its plate. Figures from KCCA’s department of solid waste show that although the authority is supposed to collect 1,000 tonnes of garbage daily, it collects only 470 tonnes. Officials blame the problem on shortage of trucks.
While KCCA recently unveiled a city drainage master plan, they lack Shs700b to roll it out. The delayed implementation has negatively impact ed city residents. On Sunday, seven people were killed in city floods.

Reaction
Mr Samuel Serunkuuma, KCCA’s acting deputy executive director, yesterday admitted that although there are a few gaps in the city as the President observed, KCCA has made a remarkable improvement regards cleaning the city. “I think he hasn’t been briefed on some of our achievements and going forward, we shall streamline our communication channels to ensure that the head of state is updated about whatever we do. We will give more attention to areas where we have not performed well,” he said. Asked whether salaries which KCCA staff earn match the service delivery, Mr Sserunkuma said: “We are engaging our team to up our productivity because when you are paid fairly, you are expected to double your effort and produce results.”

However, the executive director of Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group, Mr Julius Mukunda, said well-paid staff cannot deliver if issues such as corruption and inadequate funding are not addressed. He said KCCA suffers from political interference just like any other government entity.

“What I also emphasise is the salary commission to investigate the salary disparities so that there is fairness. How does a driver in a government agency earn about Shs7m and a professional in another is earning Shs1m? This is embarrassing,” he said.
[email protected]