Stalled advertisement law costs KCCA sh4bn annually, MPs hear

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is losing about shillings 4 billion annually due to the absence of a law on outdoor advertisements, according to KCCA director of legal affairs Caleb Mugisha.

"For the last three years, we have been unable to collect that particular revenue due to the absence of an ordinance that is still stuck in the Attorney General’s chambers," Mugisha told Parliament’s Committee on State Authorities and Statutory Enterprises (COSASE).

The revelation came in response to COSASE vice chairperson Allan Mayanja Ssebunya (Nakaseke Central), who tasked the KCCA team that had appeared over audit queries for the Financial Year 2022/2023 to respond to the failure to operationalise the 2019 outdoor advertising ordinance, as raised in the Auditor General’s report.

KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka said that although this is a revenue matter, it involves legal processes, thus inviting Mugisha to respond.

KCCA director legal affairs Caleb Mugisha appearing before COSASE at Parliament. Photo by Maria Wamala

Mugisha explained, “KCCA has taken a number of practical steps to collect this revenue but hit a snag in the Attorney General’s office.”

He highlighted the steps taken: “An outdoor ordinance was passed by our council on July 13, 2023. On July 18, 2023, that ordinance was sent to the Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs by the KCCA Executive Director. On September 12, 2023, the Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs sent that ordinance to the Attorney General for clearance and scrutiny. On November 14, 2023, a team of lawyers from the Directorate of Legal Affairs followed it up at the office of the First Parliamentary Counsel for the purpose of discussing a number of issues they had raised which we needed to respond to and incorporate in that ordinance,” he said.

“Since that date, the ordinance has not been returned to us from the Attorney General's chambers. This is despite a number of follow-up phone calls and emails to the responsible officers asking for interventions and expeditious handling of this matter. Unfortunately, till today, we are still awaiting a response,” he said, attracting responses from the committee members.

Kashari South MP Nathan Itungo during the committee meeting. Photo by Maria Wamala

Itungo Nathan, Kashari South MP, said, “In the previous audit, the same issue was raised.” He asked them to submit their correspondences with the Attorney General’s chambers. He also inquired if KCCA is not collecting any outdoor advertising revenue from the heavy outdoor advertising going on in Kampala.

Additionally, Itungo tasked them to update the committee on what happened to the court case about advertisers suing KCCA.

Eddie Kwizera, Bufumbira County East MP, said, “It is illegal if the ordinance is in process and advertising is going on. Other than losing revenue, why do you allow something illegal to go on?” He asked if Mugisha had advised KCCA to stop outdoor advertising activities since there is no law.

Mugisha said KCCA is not collecting any revenue from outdoor advertising in the city. He also said he had not advised the executive director or the council to stop the outdoor advertising.

“My understanding of the law is that if there is no law to govern a particular activity or declare it unlawful, I cannot stop it. There is no law that declares outdoor advertising unlawful. What we are talking about here is people's economic rights and their rights to engage in business. If, as a government, we are not in a position to put up a law, we cannot blame it on the business people because this business has been in existence under an old policy which has been nullified.”

MP Bumali Mpindi decried the number of posters littered all over the city. Photo by Maria Wamala

Mugisha said, “All they require from us is to avail them a law upon which they can make payments. We have so far failed to do it because the law is stuck in a certain government entity.”

He also told the committee that, “Every taxable activity in this country; the tax is a creature of statute.” Mugisha explained that, “There was a court ruling in 2020 that decreed the previous outdoor policy we were applying did not have the power of law. It advised that as a government entity, we take steps to put in place a law that could adequately defend the fees we were collecting.”

In compliance with that court ruling, “We proceeded to enact this ordinance, which we sent to the Attorney General's chambers and which has not yet come out.”

Persons with Disabilities Representative Bumali Mpindi said, “It is the government to blame. There are many rampant posters littered in town, with no law. We cannot stop people from advertising. It is their economic right. It is up to us to make them a law. We need to invite the Attorney General and ensure that this ordinance is expedited.”