Museveni directs KCCA to recruit staff for vacant positions

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has directed that key positions at the Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA be filled.

The Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, Hajjat Minsa Kabanda confirmed to Uganda Radio Network – URN that the President had written to her with advice to fill all vacant positions for effective service delivery in the city.

“The President advised that we fill the vacant positions and the right procedure to follow is to advertise, which we have done. All legible candidates can apply,” says Kabanda.

The Authority has started the process to recruit staff to fill senior positions which have been vacant for several years.

The advertised positions include seven for directors and 17 for deputy directors. The seven directorates include; the directorate of legal services, physical planning, treasury services, engineering and technical services, gender community services and production, Internal Audit and revenue collection.

Four of these directorate have been led by staff on acting basis. Dr. Esau Galukande started acting as director Gender close to a year after the departure of Harriet Mulondo, Caleb Mugisha has been acting director Legal Affairs for close to five years, while Donny Kitabire assumed the position of acting Director Treasury services in 2020, following the resignation of Julius Raymond Kabugo .

Kabugo had taken up the position also in acting capacity in 2017, after then director Daniel Kyambadde resigned. Also, Anita Kusiima has been acting director Physical Planning for close to a year now, following the resignation of former director Moses Atwine in mid-2020.

For years, there has been a human resource outcry at KCCA with political officials complaining about staff lacking contracts and others more so in senior positions working in acting capacity. The City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago on several occasions petitioned the office of the executive director and Kampala Minister to fill vacant positions at KCCA arguing that officials in acting capacity couldn’t take strong decision or execute the mandate of their respective directorates in an efficient manner.

However, the complaints had not yielded tangible results, until recently when President Yoweri Museveni directed that vacant senior positions be filled.

According to information published on KCCA online platforms, the officials shall be recruited through the Public Service Commission as stipulated in the KCCA Act.

The Act gives powers to the president to appoint the Executive Director and the deputy executive director while other staff can be recruited through the Public Service Commission and other Commissions like Education Commission depending on the nature of the job.

Until recently when Public Service Commission recruited staff for KCCA, the authority was operating with minimal staff, almost half of what is provided for in their structure. One of the tasks the current Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka embarked on upon assuming office following her appointment in 2020, was to streamline human resource at the Authority. All employees were asked to reapply for the jobs and provide all the necessary documentation including academic documents for positions.

In a recent interview with URN, the chairperson of the Public Service Commission Justice Ralph Ochan said that the commission has since 2021, recruited more than 200 staff for different directorates at KCCA. He said however they couldn’t at the time recruit for directors but didn’t reveal why.

The Commission didn’t also recruit staff for the Directorate of Engineering and Technical Services since it was undergoing changes after KCCA decided to move the buildings permit office from the Directorate of Physical Planning to Engineering.

The biggest cause for top position at the authority going vacant and ultimately being occupied by staff in acting capacity is resignation.

Over the years, atleast nine top officials have resigned from their positions with no clear reason. Several KCCA directorates have always been falling vacant as office bearers are out of them for different reasons. In 2019, Julius Raymond Kabugo who was acting as the Director of Treasury Services resigned from office for unknown reasons.

In 2019, Charles Ouma the Director of Legal affairs resigned at a time when his office was being questioned over Shillings 27 billion legal debts through consent judgement. He was replaced by Caleb Mugisha who has been in the position in acting capacity.

In October 2016, Dr. Judith Tukahirwa who was deputy Executive Director resigned and was replaced in acting capacity by Sam Sserunkuma who was then the director Revenue Collection. When Sserunkuuma took up Tukahirwa’s position, Robert Nowere acted in his position in the revenue office.

In 2018, the first Executive Director of KCCA Jennifer Musisi also resigned and was replaced in acting capacity by then Director of Engineering Andrew Kitaka. Eng. Justus Akankwa replaced Kitaka.

Other KCCA officials who have resigned over the years include Daniel Kyambadde who was Director of Treasury Services, Fred Andema who was director revenue collection, Dr. Martin Kiiza who was manager in charge of drainage, Dr. David Sseruka, former director public health, and Dr. Jeremy Ntambi who was a manager in the directorate of engineering and technical service.

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URN