No more allowances for absentee Jinja city councillors

Whereas the session was slated for 2:00pm, instead, it started an hour later due to lack of quorum.

Once they failed to raise a quorum within 30 minutes, the speaker announced how he would be adjourning such meetings.

He noted how the day’s meeting was serious since they were determining the financial muscles of the city by looking for avenues of raising local revenues without necessarily hurting the business community in their respective jurisdictions.

Walking the talk, Mbayo signed last in the attendance book after adjourning the council meeting on Friday in which he vowed not to allow absentee councillors from appending their signatures for pay. (Credit: Jackie Nambogga)

“We ought to form quorum today, we are here to approve rates and charges which is a very serious meeting of council but surprisingly, some of our colleagues have not bothered to attend,” he said.

Mbayo announced how he had only received one apology from his deputy, Sirina Kyakuwaire, who was participating in the East African Community local government games in Kampala.

Apart from her, the rest never sent in their apologies.

As a result, he instructed their accounting officer Edward Lwanga together with the clerk to council, Rajab Kitto, who generates payments for their sittings to ensure that none of the absentee councillors gets paid.

He asked Kitto to ensure that his directive was put on record insisting that he would own it.

“I implore our accounting officer together with the clerk to council who generates the payments for these sittings that nobody gets paid if they have not sat in any meeting. Please put it on record and I will own it all the way,” he said.

Mbayo vowed to go ahead and cross every space that would be left for the absentee councillors to sign in.

“After the council, I shall sign to close the book and I will cross every space left, this attendance list must be attached to the requisition for payment and nobody is going to get paid when they have not attended council from today going forward,” he emphasized.

Meanwhile, Agnes Kadama (Woman councillor Jinja south west) wondered about the fates of those who would have raised apologies if they were considered for payments.
In response, Mbayo clarified that an apology didn’t necessarily make any sense since councillors were earning sitting allowances.

“For any reason if you were away, the apology was not an official way of being absent from council. You earn a sitting allowance and for some reason, if you are not present, you are not there,” he clarified.

During the meeting, councillors, after a heated debate to reduce the suggested rental fees of shillings 1.2 million for using their main City Hall and Mayor’s Garden for public functions, resolved to ban them.

Whereas they were raising local revenue of shillings one million per usage of each facility in terms of convening workshops and parties including weddings, city clerk Edward Lwanga told councillors how the public had become a security threat at the headquarters since they were walking in freely.

He accounted how the health department lost computers to unknown thugs who sneaked into the offices.

Councillors concurred with him saying the premises would now remain for government functions alone.