Among summons KCCA leaders, MPs as unpaid casual workers storm Parliament
Speaker Anita Among gestures as she attempts to calm down casual labourers who were protesting over delyaed payment of their salary for five months on February 29, 2024.
What you need to know:
- This publication has learnt that the Thursday meeting at City hall to resolve these challenges ended prematurely as a section of councilors together with the casual workers stormed out in protests.
Ministers, legislators and other officials were Thursday forced to use the Parliament’s exit route to access the House as hundreds of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) casual workers blocked the entrance route in protest over their unpaid salaries and wages for five months.
The group comprising largely of charged elderly women accompanied by a few men armed with placards descended from the neighboring City Hall in Kampala and stormed the Parliament’s entrance demanding a way through to petition the Speaker on a number of issues, which among others, included unpaid salaries, unpaid NSSF and threats to terminate their contracts by Authority leaders.
The Thursday 2pm scuffle between the casual workers and Parliamentary police compelled the Speaker Anita Among to abandon her day’s agenda to come out to address the angry workers who blocked the busy Parliamentary Avenue for at least two hours.
Flanked by the Kampala Central MP, Mr Mohammed Nsereko, and Kampala’s woman MP, Ms Shamim Malende, Ms Among urged the protestors to calm down as the city leaders process the payment of their salary arrears.
“I want to request that as I make an order to the Lord Mayor and the leadership of KCCA to make sure that you are paid, please make sure that you don’t block any road [because] you are all going to be paid,” Ms Among told protesters outside the Parliament's main gate.
“We are also going to make sure that all your contracts are renewed. I am going to summon the leadership of KCCA, ministry of finance and all MPs of Kampala for a meeting on Tuesday morning, for you to be paid,” she added.
Issues raised by casual workers include unpaid salaries for the last five months, KCCA’s failure to remit their NSSF contributions, poor working conditions and threats to terminate their contracts.
This publication has learnt that the Thursday meeting at City hall to resolve these challenges ended prematurely as a section of councilors together with the casual workers stormed out in protests.
“We received letters from the KCCA deputy executive director, David Luyimbazi informing us that our contracts have been terminated and our service must stop this month [February]. This is done with impunity because they want us to join their company known as Seven Hills,” Ms Sazan Akatukwatsa, one of the affected workers said.
The group further decried the meager payments with the majority earning between Shs160, 000 and 180, 000 per month which they said was not sufficient, given the skyrocketing cost of living in the country.
Efforts to get the KCCA executive director’s comment on the matter were in vain as her known telephone contacts were off by press time.
What leaders said………………………
Mr Allan Ssewanyana, MP Makindye West
“As elected city leaders, we have raised these issues to the KCCA executive director but she deliberately paid a deaf ear. The salaries of these people are already wanting and on top of it, they are not receiving it on time.”
Mr Erias Lukwago, Lord Mayor
“We have held a meeting with the KCCA executive director, speaker and MPs from Kampala today (February 29, 2024), among others we have cancelled the directive to terminate the contracts of these people and we are looking forward to a meeting with Parliament next week.”
Ms Shamim Malende, Kampala woman MP
“Casual workers are parents and they have other responsibilities that need money. We therefore ask the government to pay them so that they can fend for their families and also meet their basic needs.”
