Kakumiro chair petitions Solicitor General over district service top job
What you need to know:
- In a September 8 letter, the Kakumiro District Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Andrew Mawejje, asked Mr Sentayi to fill two vacant positions on Kakumiro District Service Commission, while reminding Mr Sentayi that Dr Kansiime’s term of office had expired and that there was also a vacant position for one member.
Kakumiro District chairperson Joseph Sentayi Senkusu has petitioned the Solicitor General (SG) challenging the reappointment of Dr Margret Kansiime Lubega as the chairperson of the District Service Commission (DSC).
In a September 25 letter that this publication has seen, Mr Sentayi says Dr Kansiime’s contract expired on August 15 and the District Executive Committee decided to replace her with Mr Joseph Kawooza in view and consideration of Section 54 (2) of the Local Governments Act.
The executive committee also proposed Ms Joan Semata and Ms Fortunate Sewankambwe Mukasa as members of the DSC.
According to the petition, a September 21 council meeting adopted a motion to appoint Mr Kawooza as the new DSC boss, but the Speaker, Mr Joseph Ajuna Byarugaba, allegedly didn’t allow any deliberations.
Instead, he reportedly ruled, basing on Section 54 (3) of the Local Governments Act CAP 243 as amended, and reappointed Dr Kansiime for another four-year term “contrary to the submission of the district chairperson or the district executive.”
In a letter copied to the Minister of Local Government, the Attorney General, and MPs from Kakumiro, Mr Sentayi sought the advice of the Solicitor General.
“This communication serves to seek for your advice in view of the two Sections above and the way forward for onward submission to the Public Service Commission for approval,” he said.
Section 54 (2) of the Local Governments Act that states that “a District Service Commission shall consist of a chairperson and such other members as a district council shall determine, at least one of whom shall represent urban authorities and all of whom shall be appointed by the district council on the recommendation of the district executive committee with the approval of the Public Service Commission.”
We could not establish by press time if the SG had written back to the district boss or not.
Background
In a September 8 letter, the Kakumiro District Chief Administrative Officer, Mr Andrew Mawejje, asked Mr Sentayi to fill two vacant positions on Kakumiro District Service Commission, while reminding Mr Sentayi that Dr Kansiime’s term of office had expired and that there was also a vacant position for one member.
“Currently, the DSC is not fully constituted and can, therefore, not be able to transact official business. This is to remind you to initiate the filling of the two vacancies of the chairperson and a female member on the DSC,” Mr Mawejje’s letter to the district chairperson reads in part.
Subsequently, on September 21, Mr Sentayi proposed to the council that Mr Joseph Kawooza be considered as the new chairperson of the DSC, whose motion, according to sources, was adopted by members of the council and seconded for discussion.
