The Minister for Kampala, Minsa Kabanda, has said she is pushing for a meeting between the Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and President Yoweri Museveni, to discuss issues affecting service delivery in Kampala, the capital city of the country.
Speaking over the weekend, during a live talk show on Bukedde TV, the two leaders; Lukwago and Kabanda cited power politics and inadequate budgetary allocations as some of the major issues affecting the development of the city.
During the show dubbed Akabbinkano, Lukwago also attributed Kampala woes to Museveni’s move to deal with unelected leaders in Kampala, especially those in the business community, such as markets and transport.
“Museveni has become the mayor of Kampala; he should know that Kampala has elected leaders, but he keeps on meeting these people. What is surprising, for the last 36 years, Museveni has been in power, he has never visited Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) City Hall, yet he resides just near here in Nakasero,” Lukwago said.
In response, Kabanda, who was appearing on the show together with former minister Francis Babu faulted Lukwago for failing to create a good working relationship with President Museveni for better management of the city.
Urging Lukwago to consider meeting Museveni, Kabanda, said Museveni being the President, it does no harm to Lukwago as the Lord Mayor to meet him.
“I am ready to take you to meet the President. He is the fountain of honour, our leader, he is above all of us. We are not saying that when you meet President Museveni, you will be bribed. It will be purely about matters affecting the people of Kampala, not politics,” she said.
Kabanda also proposed that in case Lukwago does not want to meet the President, he can find other ways, such as a phone call, through which he can communicate with the head of state on issues affecting service delivery in Kampala.
Babu also implored Lukwago to put politics aside and consider meeting the President to talk over issues affecting the people of Kampala.
“Stop being rigid. Call the President and tell him, Your Excellency, I am the Lord Mayor of Kampala, I am requesting to see you on the development of Kampala,” Babu said.
However, Lukwago insisted that if Museveni wants to meet him, he should go to City Hall.
Lukwago wondered why KCCA, which has elected leaders, the technical people are supervised by leaders, such as resident city commissioners (RCCs), who he said are responsible for the power politics in Kampala.
Kabanda implored leaders in Kampala to work as a team and avoid politics, saying it affects service delivery in the city.
In his submission, Lukwago singled out what he described as inadequate budgetary allocations to KCCA which he said has slowed down work.
According to the Kampala lord mayor, KCCA has a strategic plan that requires sh7 trillion for implementation.
He appealed to the Government to consider increasing the budget for KCCA to enable the administration deliver services to the people of Kampala.
