The State Minister for Kampala Capital City Authority, Benny Namugwanya, has announced that government is abandoning the proposal to have the Kampala Lord Mayor voted for by universal adult suffrage.
Minister Namugwanya’s position is in support of the report by the Committee on Presidential Affairs, which in its recommendations on the contentious Kampala Capital City Authority (Amendment) Bill, rooted for the scrapping of the proposal.
“Government has reconsidered its position on the issue of election of the Lord Mayor by councilors. We are maintaining the position in the current law in the spirit of not disenfranchising the people of Kampala,” said Namugwanya.
The proposal to elect the Lord Mayor from amongst councilors attracted rebuke from opposition lawmakers who saw mischief in the bill, which many said is intended to politically curtail Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago.
The proposal had been vouched for the KCCA Minister Beti Kamya to be the political head of the Authority.
MP Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi dismissed the bill as a tool of politics saying the bill violates Article 178 of the Constitution which requires the establishment of regional tiers and together with Article 5(3) is supposed to distinguish Kampala from the capital city.
“We failed to implement the regional tier and failed to create Mengo Municipality this entire amendment does not in anyway mitigate the challenges in Kampala. It is simple day light politicking,” said Kivumbi.
MP Wilfred Niwagaba, who represented the Leader of the Opposition said both the amendment bill and the parent act are unconstitutional.
“The bill as is and even the act itself are incurably defective for offending the Constitution,” he said.
The Deputy Speaker, Jacob Oulanyah, said Article 178 cannot be operationalized because the regional tier was proposed having Buganda Kingdom in mind, but they later rejected the proposal.
