The Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Dorothy Kisaka, has said they will on Monday (March 4) start verifying all cleaners so that they can be paid.

The verification exercise will also establish a register of casual labour within the city under known groups of Saving and Credit Cooperative Organisations (SACCOs).

She told New Vision Online in an interview on Friday (March 1) that all registered members of the SACCOs involved in city cleaning work will be verified to ensure value for money.

“There must be value for money, and the verification exercise will weed out any illegalities in the system. All workers should be paid and paid on time, but we can't pay those who are not in the system,” said Kisaka.

She urged the city cleaners to remain calm because the government is committed to contracting and paying both community SACCOs and 7Hills SACCOs.

Eng. David Luyimbazi, the KCCA deputy executive director, also told New Vision Online when contacted that following appeals from the community SACCOs, the ministers for Kampala convened several consultative meetings with concerned parties on Thursday (February 29).

The meeting included MPs, division mayors, city councilors, KCCA senior management, the Prime Minister, and the Speaker of Parliament.

Luyimbazi said the key issues discussed include the protection of jobs for casual workers and the need for SACCOs to operate independently within the same ecosystem.

“It is evident that the previous guidance I issued on February 26, 2024, allowing workers to migrate independently of their SACCOs, would not support the aforementioned requirements."

He, for instance, noted that the long-term commitments of SACCOs members such as debts, investments and welfare support, would be significantly impacted by individual migrations between SACCOs to the detriment of the entire group.

The KCCA deputy ED said other concerns arose during these discussions, including duplicative efforts among different SACCOs and the presence of ghost workers within SACCO groupings.

“It was unanimously agreed that conducting a headcount in both SACCOs is crucial to authenticate staff lists submitted in monthly reports and determine accurate staffing levels."

Therefore, he said the order for former casual workers to transition or migrate into existing contractual arrangements of casual workers by March 1, 2024 is rescinded.

“Modalities for integrating all causal workers into existing contractual frameworks will be communicated upon conclusion of consultations and receipt of clear directives."

Over 4,000 cleaners

In January 2022, Kisaka told New Vision that they had over 4,000 cleaners, while answering questions about the reports that KCCA had declined to renew their contracts

“Our cleaners who are not salaried people exceed 4000 and so that cleaning force we have is enormous and, therefore, no one should expect layoffs,” she said.

“If we lay off 4,000 people in a day, the city will come to a standstill and you will also be in trouble with the political side. 

"This is because these people sweep the roads, clean drainages, cut the grasses, pick up the waste and generally keep the city smart,” said the KCCA boss.