Frank Rusa is the legal director at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). Photo | Courtesy
The leadership of the executive arm of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has said it never handed over the decommissioning of Kiteezi landfill to a Ghanaian investor as claimed.
Mr Frank Rusa, the KCCA acting executive director, told Monitor that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that had been drafted for him to green-light the deal was forwarded to the Attorney General for legal advice.
Mr Rusa was moved to comment after ombudsman Beti Olive Namisango Kamya directed him to immediately stop transacting with Jospong Group of Companies, a Ghanaian firm which had entered into a pact with the government to decommission Kiteezi landfill.
In an October 17 letter, Ms Kamya wondered why KCCA handpicked Jospong Group of Companies in complete disregard of all the government procurement procedures as provided for under the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (PPDA) Act.
“The Inspectorate of Government has taken note of information from the press and several other sources alleging irregularities in the procurement of an investor for the management of the Kiteezi Landfill, that Jospong Group of Companies was engaged without carrying out due diligence to establish whether the Company possesses the requisite technology and experience to manage a project of such magnitude,” the letter reads in part.
It adds: “That the Kiteezi Landfill Project has been undertaken without carrying out any feasibility study and therefore its viability is in question. That the funding for this project is unclear, [because] Jospong Group of Companies has offered to manage the Kiteezi Landfill at no cost to the government. This raises questions since one wonders how the company will recoup returns on their investment.”
Ms Kamya also raised the issue of environmental concern, citing that no environmental impact assessment has been done to assess how the investment by the firm will affect the environment.
“You are, therefore, hereby directed to halt all transactions with Jospong Group of Companies who have been engaged to manage the Kiteezi Landfill until this office completes investigations or issues further orders on the matter,” she said in the letter.
It added: “That the Kiteezi Landfill Project has been concluded without consulting the relevant Stakeholders including National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), the political wing of Kampala Capital City Authority among others.”
‘Something fishy’
In an interview with the Sunday Monitor, Mr Rusa acknowledged receiving Ms Kamya’s letter which he said was in response to various media reports that in his book were not entirely true.
“KCCA has not procured Jospong Group of companies to do that job yet. A draft Memorandum of Understanding has been forwarded to the Attorney General for advice. If it is cleared, we will follow the procedures set out in the PPDA Act to engage Jospong Group of Companies,” Mr Rusa said.
Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who raised concerns over this decommissioning deal, welcomed the new development.
“We prepared a 15-page dossier, which we presented to the Minister for Kampala, highlighting all those issues and also forwarded to the IGG, who responded positively to stop this process because there is something fishy about this entire thing, starting with the speed at which they were pushing for it, transgression and glitches they committed against the law,” he said.
He added: “There was no advert, request for expression from potential bidders, no due diligence conducted, no feasibility study, they were just forcing the Ag ED to sign a MoU which I am glad he declined. Even that offer by the firm was strange because undertaking those activities at no cost you wonder how they will recoup their investments.”
This development comes days after the State minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, Mr Kabuye Kyofatogabye, told NTV Uganda that the landfill had been handed over to a Ghanaian investor from the Jospong Group to decommission it at no cost.
The announcement followed a benchmarking visit to Ghana, Ethiopia, and Sweden by a committee that had been formed by Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja in September to traverse different countries and benchmark how they properly handle their waste.
The committee, which included State minister for Kampala Kabuye Kyofatogabye, former Deputy Executive Director David Luyimbazi, Dr Okello Ayen Daniel (former director, public health KCCA), Principal economist Moses Ssonko, and Energy officer Hatimu Muyanja, travelled to Ghana on September 20 to begin the benchmarking process.
The benchmarking visit was in response to the August 10 tragedy where a portion of the garbage on the 36-acre landfill collapsed and killed 35 people, injured 18 and as well destroyed properties worth billions.
Between September 20 and 22, the Committee visited a private waste management facility in Ghana known as Jospong Group of Companies, which is funded by the government.
During the handover ceremony to the firm, Minister Kyofatogabye said: “This firm has solved similar problems in Nigeria and can provide an affordable and efficient solution. We are awaiting the government valuer's assessment to determine compensation costs for households within the buffer zones.”
Mr Joseph Agyepong, the chief executive officer of the Jospong Group, said the actual transformation of the Kiteezi landfill would begin in March 2025, although part of the technical team would arrive in October to start the landfill survey.
“Jespong has 25 years of experience in waste management, and we have solved a similar problem in Ghana. We have not placed any cost. What motivated us is passion. We will conduct a complete study and then discuss it with the authorities,” he said.
Kiteezi landfill fallout
Minister Kyofatogabye told local media this weekend that the ombudsman should “expedite investigations” into the deal “because people are dying in Kiteezi.”
As they await the advice from the AG’s office, KCCA, Mr Rusa revealed, has deployed nearly 10 excavators in Kiteezi to continue the job of levelling the high slopes of garbage to minimise the risk of another garbage slide “as we fast track processes of decommissioning Kiteezi in line with the procurement laws and regulations.”
Following the tragedy, Ms Lillan Aber, the State minister for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, said a 200-metre buffer zone around the landfill had been established, and efforts are underway to flatten the garbage hill to stabilise the area as operations are phased out.
Mr Lukwago yesterday said: “Another thing is that eviction of the people around the landfill should also be handled because by the act of the government arresting the former top executive is a sign that they take the full responsibility of the tragedy and therefore the victims must be compensated before doing anything else. Compensation should be adequate and not mere tokenism, and it should be based on a proper valuation of their assets. We are also outraged by the Kampala Ministry’s decision to give out handouts of only Shs2m to the victims.”
On Friday, the three former KCCA bosses red-flagged by the ombudsman over the Kiteezi tragedy learnt that they face a punishment of up to life imprisonment on conviction.
This after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) slapped 57 charges against them including manslaughter, an alternative charge of causing death by rash or negligent act and causing harm by rash or negligent acts.
The three are ex-executive director, Dorothy Kisaka, ex-deputy David Luyimbazi and ex-director of Public Health Daniel Okello.
After spending two days in police custody being quizzed about their alleged criminal negligence that resulted in the death of at least 35 people when garbage collapsed on houses at Kiteezi landfill the trio appeared at the Kasaganti Chief Magistrate’s court under tight security on Friday where they were formally charged. They pleaded not guilty to all charges slapped against them.
