Prime
Kamya blocks Lukwago’s Malaysia trip
What you need to know:
- Implication. Mr Lukwago’s absence at the conference means that KCCA will refund $2,500, which the World Bank used to process his visa.
KAMPALA. Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago will not be attending a World Bank conference in Malaysia after the trip was blocked by Kampala minister Beti Olive Kamya.
On December 19, Dr Joan Clos, the UN Under-Secretary General and executive director UN-Habitat, invited Mr Lukwago to attend the ninth session of the World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from February 7 to February 13. His invitation came through the Foreign Affairs ministry.
The World Bank sent Mr Lukwago a visa and a ticket. KCCA was supposed to pay $1,800 for his accommodation and per diem.
However on January 6, Ms Kamya wrote to KCCA executive director Jennifer Musisi, saying Mr Lukwago will not travel to Malaysia.
“…for that matter, his worship the Lord mayor Erias Lukwago isn’t cleared to travel to Malaysia,” Ms Kamya, without giving any reasons.
She instead cleared Kawempe Division mayor Emmanuel Sserunjogi to represent the Lord Mayor. When contacted last evening, Ms Kamya acknowledged blocking the Lord Mayor’s trip but declined to give reasons.
Sources at KCCA revealed that top staff have since Monday been engaged in closed door meetings to see how the Lord Mayor can travel.
However, according to the programme, he is already late since he was supposed to present a paper on Kampala during a round table discussion by mayors tomorrow.
Mr Lukwago was also supposed to give a status of the ongoing road construction projects in Kampala that are funded by the World Bank.
However, Mr Robert Kyuku, the KCCA director of strategy, is already in Malaysia and according to a statement on the KCCA website, Ms Musisi made a presentation on land and municipal finance at the same conference.
This newspaper couldn’t establish whether she was also invited. Ms Musisi has been out of the country for close to a month now.
When contacted, Mr Lukwago said the minister is playing cheap politics. “First of all, I am supposed to present to the conference the challenges faced by Kampala in accommodating refugees because we don’t have services to provide to these people,” he said.
