Erias Lukwago Proposes Scrapping of Ministry for Kampala

The Mayor of Kampala city, Erias Lukwago has proposed reforms that seek to introduce a more leaner representation of the central government in Kampala.

He says that currently, there are many entities and appointed individuals representing the President in Kampala doing almost the same work.

Lukwago told journalists in Kampala on Wednesday that the Ministry of Kampala is redundant and needs to be scrapped since it lacks a clear mandate.

“The central government is over represented in Kampala,” the Mayor said.

“Kampala should now be under the Ministry of Local Government or any other Ministry because we have many of them. The Ministry for Kampala lacks a clear mandate, it was created to eclipse the office of the Mayor,” he said.

According to Lukwago, the mandate of the Ministry clashes with that of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and so does the numerous appointed government representatives including the KCCA Executive Director.

“It is an absurdity to have the President being represented by so many people. The President appoints the Executive Director and the Deputy. He also appoints 10 Directors through Public Service and 10 deputy directors. Then he appoints the Minister for Kampala,” the mayor told reporters.

On top of these appointments, there is the Resident City Commissioner (RCC) along with 5 other deputy RCCs who head Divisions in Kampala, all of these representing the President.

“All that for what? This is why they are all clashing because they don’t know their roles”.

He wondered why there should be an Authority (Metropolitan Physical Planning Authority), a creation under Section 21 and 22 of the KCCA Act, which is under another Authority (KCCA) yet the latter has a mandate of physical planning.

Lukwago said that some of these duplications, particularly the Minister for Kampala were deliberately made in order to get rid of the political position he occupies.

“That is why almost every Minister of Kampala has been pushing for the amendment of the KCCA Act, to make the Minister the political head of the city,” he said.

The mayor’s proposals come a week after Cabinet passed a resolution to reduce the size of the government by merging some of the Agencies. The move is aimed to cut down on wasteful expenditure and improve efficiency.