Masaka finance minister sacked
Sep 25, 2011
GODFREY Kayemba, the mayor of Masaka municipality, has sacked his finance secretary Mariam Tusiime, after she accused him of having a hand in the controversial sale of the land on which the municipal council headquarters sits.
By DISMUS BUREGYEYA
and ALI MAMBULE
GODFREY Kayemba, the mayor of Masaka municipality, has sacked his finance secretary Mariam Tusiime, after she accused him of having a hand in the controversial sale of the land on which the municipal council headquarters sits.
Kayemba announced his decision during a council meeting on Tuesday following a heated debate on the sale of the council land.
“I cannot work with a person who does not keep secrets yet she took an oath of secrecy,†Kayemba said.
Kayemba also said Tusiime accused him of influencing the sale of the municipal council main building.
Sources said the district land board chaired by Fr. Joseph Kaita, allocated the land on which the municipal headquarters sits to Brig. Silver Kayemba, the Army Chief of Staff, after the plot lease expired in 2007.
Tusiime had also tabled a motion calling for disciplinary action against the mayor. This was after she presented documents where the mayor filed an application to the land board on June 26, seeking to consider the municipal council as the sitting tenant on the said plot.
“We became suspicious after the mayor received information regarding the sale of the plot. He secretly tendered in his application on behalf of the council without the consent of the executive, the council and office of the town clerk. It is strange,†Tusiime said.
However, Kayemba said his application did not have any impact since the land board had already allocated the land to Brigadier Kayemba in April.
“I had not come to office by the time the land board allocated the said plot, how could I have had a hand in the deal. In fact, I made an effort to recover the plot,†he said.
The matter was referred to an ad hoc committee by the Council, headed by Major Joseph Mugerwa. The committee was mandated by the Municipal council to investigate and give a report within a fortnight.
The town clerk, Johnson Baryatuma, however, advised Kayemba to put the communication over Tusiime’s sacking in writing.
“ It is crucial to find out if the mayor had any selfish interest in applying for the plot without the knowledge of stakeholders in the municipal council,†Baryantuma said.
He added that the office of the town clerk had assigned a team to investigate the matter before council takes legal action against the district land board.
Members of the council accuse the landboard for allocating plots and open spaces without their consent.
The council presided over by Richard Lukyamuzi, the municipal speaker, resolved that council would not vacate the premise with in two weeks as ordered by Brigadier Kayemba.
Members also argue that according to the master plan for Masaka municipality designed in 1933 the plot was originally a road path.
“Where is the minute for change of user for this plot, Brigadier Kayemba bought air, the plot he is claiming is elsewhere,†Mayor Kayemba said.
Brig. Kayemba, however, told New Vision that he holds a genuine land title from the land board.
Meanwhile, the district council has also summoned the district land board to a meeting on Friday to give more information on the matter.
The move comes after the district land board chairperson, Joseph Kaita, recently failed to give the council a response over the matter.
and ALI MAMBULE
GODFREY Kayemba, the mayor of Masaka municipality, has sacked his finance secretary Mariam Tusiime, after she accused him of having a hand in the controversial sale of the land on which the municipal council headquarters sits.
Kayemba announced his decision during a council meeting on Tuesday following a heated debate on the sale of the council land.
“I cannot work with a person who does not keep secrets yet she took an oath of secrecy,†Kayemba said.
Kayemba also said Tusiime accused him of influencing the sale of the municipal council main building.
Sources said the district land board chaired by Fr. Joseph Kaita, allocated the land on which the municipal headquarters sits to Brig. Silver Kayemba, the Army Chief of Staff, after the plot lease expired in 2007.
Tusiime had also tabled a motion calling for disciplinary action against the mayor. This was after she presented documents where the mayor filed an application to the land board on June 26, seeking to consider the municipal council as the sitting tenant on the said plot.
“We became suspicious after the mayor received information regarding the sale of the plot. He secretly tendered in his application on behalf of the council without the consent of the executive, the council and office of the town clerk. It is strange,†Tusiime said.
However, Kayemba said his application did not have any impact since the land board had already allocated the land to Brigadier Kayemba in April.
“I had not come to office by the time the land board allocated the said plot, how could I have had a hand in the deal. In fact, I made an effort to recover the plot,†he said.
The matter was referred to an ad hoc committee by the Council, headed by Major Joseph Mugerwa. The committee was mandated by the Municipal council to investigate and give a report within a fortnight.
The town clerk, Johnson Baryatuma, however, advised Kayemba to put the communication over Tusiime’s sacking in writing.
“ It is crucial to find out if the mayor had any selfish interest in applying for the plot without the knowledge of stakeholders in the municipal council,†Baryantuma said.
He added that the office of the town clerk had assigned a team to investigate the matter before council takes legal action against the district land board.
Members of the council accuse the landboard for allocating plots and open spaces without their consent.
The council presided over by Richard Lukyamuzi, the municipal speaker, resolved that council would not vacate the premise with in two weeks as ordered by Brigadier Kayemba.
Members also argue that according to the master plan for Masaka municipality designed in 1933 the plot was originally a road path.
“Where is the minute for change of user for this plot, Brigadier Kayemba bought air, the plot he is claiming is elsewhere,†Mayor Kayemba said.
Brig. Kayemba, however, told New Vision that he holds a genuine land title from the land board.
Meanwhile, the district council has also summoned the district land board to a meeting on Friday to give more information on the matter.
The move comes after the district land board chairperson, Joseph Kaita, recently failed to give the council a response over the matter.