New Kagadi district LC5 chairperson to fight extortion, rampant job sale

KAGADI - Elly Gard Tumusiime, the newly sworn-in Kagadi District LC5 Chairperson, has vowed to fight the rampant corruption in form of Job selling, bribery and extortion by the district service commission and a section of other civil servants in various departments.

After taking oath presided over by Nazifa Namayanja, the Kibaale Chief Magistrate, held at the district headquarters in Kagadi Town on Thursday, Tumusiime, the former councillor for Nyakarongo sub-county, pledged to improve service delivery in the district, with a focus on accountability, transparency, infrastructural development, and equal distribution of resources.

“We have been having the cancer of corruption in Kagadi District in areas of job selling, extortion and bribery perpetrated by the previous leadership. I have come as a saviour for the district with no tolerance to corruption and bribery. I request the new councillors to work with me as a team to wipe out these social evils in our district,” said Tumusiime.

Tumusiime, the third district Boss since Kagadi district was carved from Kibaale District in 2016,  bounced back as an independent candidate in the recent general election for LC5 seat, defeating the incumbent, the outgoing Kagadi LC5 Chairperson and NRM flag bearer Yosia Ndibwami.

After taking oath, Tumusiime received official office instruments from the Chief Administrative Officer, Pauline Epodoi, which included the office stamp, the Local Government Act, the Constitution, vehicle keys, and office keys, among others.

The swearing-in of the district chairperson was followed by that of councillors from all the 35 administrative units in the district, including 9 Town councils.

Elly Gard Tumusiime

Speaking during the ceremony, Chief Magistrate Nazifa Namayanja urged the new district leaders to prioritise community interests over personal gains. She also challenged them to put aside political differences and work together for the development of Kagadi District.

However, chaos erupted with rival councillors engaging in a physical fight when the election for the district Speaker was postponed to June 11, 2026, after a re-run was ordered all in vain by the chief magistrate. 

The Kabamba Sub-County councillor, Jamada Magezi, failed to secure the required 50% of the votes. Jamada garnered 31 votes against 28 votes for his closest rival, Vincent Ssemuga. A total of 64 votes were cast.

The election process was disrupted by bad weather, including strong winds and rain. The wind scattered the ballot papers after the ballot box was blown over, causing confusion.

Ramuel Betonda, the District Councillor for Kyakabadiima sub-county, applauded the wise ruling of the Chief Magistrate to postpone the elections for the district speaker as councillors had started fighting with violence and stampede at the swearing-in scene.

“The Magistrate followed the law in the Local Government Act Cap 138, where a candidate to be declared a winner for the position of speaker in an election must have won with more than 50% of the votes cast. Magezi Jamada polled only 31 votes and did not qualify to be declared the winner. We shall sort ourselves out next time. 

We are again happy that our beloved new chairperson has been sworn in. This will make our district clean and free from all sorts of social evils we have been fighting against,” said Betonda.