Nsibambi, Bidandi Ssali Differ On LC3 'O' Level Recommendation

PRIME Minister Apolo Nsibambi and local government minister Bidandi Ssali yesterday disagreed on whether LC3 chairmen should have minimum qualifications of '0' level or its equivalent, report Hamis Kaheru and Richard Mutumba. They were contributing to debate on the Local Government (Amendment) Bill in Parliament. Bidandi said he supported the proposal to make '0' level the minimum qualification. He said President Yoweri Museveni had said he was opposed to attaching qualifications to offices of lower councils unless the LCs were consulted. Bidandi said he subsequently carried out research in two sub-counties of every district which showed LCs were in favour of the '0' level condition. "However, I plead guilty that when the President gave me the assignment I did not report back after completing my research," Bidandi said. However, Nsibambi said talented people without education should not be barred from leadership. "You all know that we launched UPE recently. Before we have put in place facilities for people who are bright but too poor to access secondary education, we should not bar them," he said. Ends