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Keep off land matters, minister warns RDCs
Kampala. The minister for presidency, Ms Esther Mbayo, has warned the Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) to keep off land matters, saying they are not judges to start demarcating land.
The minister sounded the warning during the opening of an induction training of RDCs at the National Leadership Institute, Kyankwanzi.
A number of RDCs have been accused of conniving with land grabbers to evict bonafide owners in the recent past. Many are also involved in settling land issues, which the minister, said should be left for the courts to handle.
“When it comes to the issues of land, you are supposed to mediate. You are not supposed to be judges, but you continue judging. Are you supposed to make demarcations to the land? That should be left for the courts,” Ms Mbayo said.
Neglect of responsibiliy
She said many RDCs have reneged on their responsibilities and resorted to doing other things that do not concern their offices hence neglect of duty.
“Let us go back to what used to be the office of the RDC by then. You are diluting your offices yet you are supposed to be busy,” she said.
Relationships
The minister also warned the RDCs about bad relationships with other district leaders, saying this affects service delivery in the districts. She said her office has received a number of reports about the RDCs who interfere with the work of district chairpersons, chief administrative officers and other technical staff.
Ms Mbayo also accused the president’s representatives in the districts of absenteeism, noting that they spend a lot of time loitering on the streets of Kampala instead of monitoring government programmes.
“Sometimes I come to your district and you are not there. How will you perform when you are not there? You are supposed to reside at your work stations, but you are only there for few days.
“I will move there quietly and that will be the basis for your appraisal,” she said.
Ms Mbayo said as result of absenteeism, many RDCs, prepare shallow quarterly reports, which she said they must improve upon.
