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Interim KCCA boss in a spot of bother over Ghanaian investor
Interim Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director Frank Rusa. PHOTO/FILE/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- Interim KCCA boss Frank Rusa says KCCA has not yet signed any contract or awarded any tender to a Ghanaian firm to decommission Kiteezi dumpsite.
Interim Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director Frank Rusa has said they have forwarded the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which had been drafted for him to greenlight the award of Kiteezi landfill to a Ghanaian investor, to the Attorney General for legal advice.
Earlier, government announced plans to quickly decommission the Kiteezi landfill site and turn the waste into fertiliser, with the task given to Jospong Group of Companies from Ghana.
However, last week, Inspector General of Government, Beti Kamya directed KCCA to immediately stop transacting with Jospong Group of Companies over failure to adhere to government procurement guidelines.
Speaking to Monitor on Monday Rusa said: “KCCA has not yet signed any contract or awarded any tender to Jospong Group of Companies to do any work at the Kiteezi landfill."
"...but the process of due diligence is underway,” he noted.
Consultations
“We are still consulting with the government on the modalities and timelines of the evaluation of properties and compensation. What I can confirm is that the government is not inclined to take anyone’s property without a clear position on compensation,” he added.
It should be noted that a KCCA team visited Ghana from September 20 to 22 and toured a private waste management company managed by Jospong Group.
The team included State Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Kabuye Kyofatogabye, then KCCA deputy executive director David Luyimbazi, then KCCA director for public health Daniel Okello Ayen, Finance Ministry Principal Economist Moses Ssonko, and Hatimu Muyanja, the Energy Ministry principal officer.
On September 24, the President fired KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka, Mr Luyimbazi and Dr Okello in response to the findings of the IGG) report concerning Kiteezi landfill disaster.
In a statement, the trio were dismissed “in the public interest due to significant evidence of criminal negligence”.
Minister’s announcement
After the visit, Mr Kyofatogabye announced that the Kiteezi landfill had been handed over to Jospong Group to
decommission at no cost.
“He had solved similar problems in Nigeria and can provide an affordable and efficient solution. We are awaiting the government valuer’s assessment to determine compensation costs for households within the buffer zones,”
he told journalists during the handover of the site at Kiteezi.
However, in an October 17 letter, IGG Kamya asked the acting KCCA Executive Director for clarity on why the Jospong Group was chosen without following the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act.
“It is claimed that Jospong Group of Companies was engaged without sufficient due diligence to confirm its capability to handle a project of this magnitude. The lack of a feasibility study also raises questions about the project’s viability,” the letter stated in part.
