Two more witnesses pin Lukwago

By Vision Reporters

KAMPALA - Two more city councilors on Friday testified against the Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, before a tribunal that is investigating their petition seeking his removal from office.

The tribunal, seating at Metropole Hotel in Kampala, will determine whether the petition meets the grounds provided for in the law to impeach Lukwago.

The councilors are accusing Lukwago of abuse of office, incompetence and misconduct. They also accuse him of failing to convene Authority meetings to discuss matters affecting the city.

Kyazze, who is the second on the list of the 17 petitioners, stated that Lukwago had engaged in acts of public incitement, leading to chaos in the city, loss of property and death of a senior police officer.

He alluded to Lukwago's involvement in one of the walk to work protests in the city, which turned violent, leading to the death of the John Bosco Ariong, an assistant inspector of police.

Kyazze faulted the Lord Mayor for shunning the Liberation Day celebrations on January 26 2012, choosing instead to take part in the protests.

'As a leader, I expected him to attend the celebrations because it is a national event. Instead, he incited people into chaos,' Kyazze stated.

Asked by the trbunal what the offense this amounted to, Kyazze described it as abuse of office.

Kyazze, who represents youth at KCCA accused Lukwago of deliberately refusing to convene authority meetings to appoint standing committees that oversee KCCA projects.

'He even swore in Arabic before us that he would not call for the meetings. Three of us went to his office but he refused to relent,' Kyazze said.

He also stated that the agenda of meetings convened by Lukwago was often not fit for special seatings, which are held to address emergency issues.

'Often, we were never given enough time to prepare for the meetings. But he also came late for the meetings and his conduct before us was discouraging,' he said.

Joyce Acnan Ondoga, representing persons with disabilities at KCCA, also accused Lukwago for refusing to convene committee meetings to discuss committee reports.

A chairperson of the revenue collection committee, Achan said Lukwago's failure to call the meetings had led to loss of revenue to the Authority.

She stated that Lukwago had opposed the sh120,000 levy charged for taxi operators, leading to loss of revenue and prompting esistance from the drivers.

Achan also accused the Lord Mayor of intimidating and belittling the councilors, stating that Lukwago described them as being narrow minded.

'The Lord Mayor has no patience to listen to councilors during meetings. Personally, he has intimidated me. In one of the meetings he labelled me as one of the most trouble makers in the city,' she stated.