By Paul Kiwuuwa
KAMPALA - The parliamentary committee on local government and public service has directed Kampala Capital City (KCCA) councillors to refund the allowances they received for the period during which they did not sit.
“The allowances will be returned to the KCCA coffers. We will follow up this with a bank statement showing the refunds. Each councillor is supposed to deposit the money on KCCA’s account,” committee chairperson Florence Kintu (Kalungu Woman MP) said.
The directive comes after KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi told the committee last week that the councillors had only held two ordinary sittings in 2011.
KCCA has 31 councillors and each of them receives sh4.45m per month, which includes a retainer fee of sh2m and sh2.45m for mobilisation.
In effect, each councillor is expected to refund sh31m for the seven months during which they did not convene for council business.
“Council meetings are mandatory, like parliamentary sittings. Would you be happy if MPs received salaries without attending plenary and committee sittings?” Kintu asked.
“There must be value for money. This is a lesson to all public servants; they should not get paid for work not done,” she added.
Asked why the authority has not been sitting, Musisi said it is the mandate of the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, to convene ordinary meetings, which he has not been doing.
Earlier, however, Lukwago told the committee that whenever he convenes meetings, Musisi deliberately refuses to attend, blocks them and connives with some councillors not to attend.
The committee recommended that the public service commission stops remitting salaries and allowances to the councillors for non-performance.
Recently Lukwago wrote to parliament, accusing Musisi of deliberately misinterpreting the KCCA Act 2010 as well as abusing and refusing to adhere to the provisions of the Act.
He said this had resulted into maladministration, poor service delivery and anarchy in the city.
However, Musisi said the petition does not highlight the incidents of misinterpretation.
