My life is in danger, says Lukwago

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has said he is fearing for his life, a concern that has prompted him to ask for intervention from Parliament.

“I did not want to raise this [matter] but when a whole minister sent me threats, I knew things were now getting serious. I have here with me an SMS message from the State Minister for Kampala Kyofatogabye [Kabuye]. It really came as a shocker to me. He had never sent me a message before but this time round, he sent me one,” Lukwago said.

The message, according to Lukwago, was sent on April 27 with Kabuye texting: “Lord Mayor, when shall you stop useless wars? I am the minister and [you] are the Lord Mayor. Are you not comfortable with your position? I am ready to fight to the end [and] you know me when I decide to fight. My brother, learn to always sieve certain things and end useless wars.”

The brewing tension, Lukwago said, is on matters related to roads and not anything political.

“This is a very serious matter. This is getting out of hand and that is why I am concerned. Tomorrow, you will see bullets raining on me and you don’t know the reason. I would like Parliament to pick interest in this matter,” Lukwago said during an interface with the House’s Physical Infrastructure Committee on May 11 as he gave a report on allegations of inflated Bills of Quantities for civil works in Uganda’s capital Kampala.

He added: “If it was about political fights, I would say that these are things we are used to but he is relating the matter to roads as he had [previously partly] stated that I would not have access to [certain] contracts. He said it was over his dead body.”

In response to Mr Lukwago's claims, Mr Kabuye, in a WhatsApp message to this reporter asked the Lord Mayor to relax and top seeking public sympathy.

"The issue of the Lord Mayor's theatric[al] behavior over his tricks of construction of roads in the city began with me calling Members of Parliament to come and we find solutions with mechanism of setting up a roads committee since Mr Lukwago who has been at the helm of the city for 20 years has never thought of electing a committee in charge of road maintenance."

Kabuye added:- "When I told him about it, he turns this [as] a threat to his life. That's total rubbish and Katemba (drama) from him....Lord Mayor should relax and stop seeking for political and public sympathy."

Based on the seriousness of the claims, Committee chairperson David Karubanga (Kigorobya County) advised Lukwago to address the issue to security agencies like police.

With growing concern over the current poor state of Uganda’s roads characterized by huge potholes, Karubanga asked Lukwago what his team is doing to resolve the problem.  

In response, Lukwago admitted that the entire road network in Kampala is “rotten to the core, which he attributed to perpetual neglect, inadequate funding, and abuse of the little funds available.”

“The entire road network in Kampala is 2,100km of which only 616km is paved. As KCCA, we receive a paltry Shs26billion which is not remitted timely….and to make matters worse, our budget line for civil works in the next FY2023/24 has been slashed from Shs78 billion to Shs10 billion,” Lukwago remarked.

Small interventions are being used to address funding matters including acquisition of loans from development partners, according to the mayor.

According to the KCCA Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka, at least Shs75b-Shs100b is needed annually to effectively maintain roads in Kampala alone.

“The annual Shs26billion government allocation for city roads is insufficient,” she noted in April 2023.  

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