The Inspector General of Government (IGG) Beti Kamya gestures during a press conference in Kampala on February 6, 2023. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA
A summary report of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) Beti Kamya shows that Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the sacked executive director of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), was fired by President Museveni for mainly four reasons.
According to the summary report that this publication has seen, the core reason for the sacking was that Ms Kisaka arbitrary ignored the closure notice of the Kiteezi landfill issued by another government entity, the National Environment Management Authority (Nema), hence “operated the Kiteezi landfill without a Nema licence.”
Others reasons fronted by the ombudsman to fire Ms Kisaka were: she committed KCCA to enter into contractual obligations with the concessionaires to dump waste at Kiteezi landfill, thereby breaching the licence conditions, failed to notify the responsible office for disaster preparedness – in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) in line with the National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy 2010 and that she did not seek urgent redress, including informing the political leadership at KCCA.
Further, the report accuses the sacked executive director of ignoring urgent communication from various stakeholders, including her staff to find an immediate response to the impending catastrophe at Kiteezi.
“As chairperson, senior management team, she did not consider it as a matter for discussion at that level,” reads in part the summary of the IGG report.
On August 10, a huge Kiteezi landfill that had over time gathered water, collapsed under its own weight, burying and killing at least 35 people.
Combo (L-R): KCCA executive director Dorothy Kisaka, her deputy Eng David Luyimbazi and KCCA director of Public Health Dr Daniel Okello. PHOTOS/ FILE
Deputy executive director David
Turning to Mr Luyimbazi, the IGG’s summary report contends that he, being a professional engineer, did not use his technical expertise to advise concerned authorities to take an immediate action to avert the collapse of the landfill.
“As a qualified engineer, he was not able to appreciate the gravity of the situation at Kiteezi landfill despite receiving communication about the impending catastrophe. As the direct supervisor of the Directorate of Public Health and Environment, he should have taken action against the concessionaires, who were illegally dumping waste knowing that there was an impending disaster,” the IGG reports reads in part.
Mr Luyimbazi is also accused of failing to notify the responsible office for disaster preparedness in the OPM in line with the National Disaster Preparedness and Management Policy 2010 to take action.
Dr Daniel Okello, director of Public Health
For his part, the IGG states that Dr Okello “irregularly continued to supervise the operations of the landfill without a Nema licence. He failed to ensure regular compaction of the landfill with gravel, which is a required operational standard.”
The ombudsman further claims upon receipt of an e-mail on June 29, 2024, communicating the emergency situation at the Kiteezi landfill, Dr Okello visited the landfill but failed to make a report that would have guided management on the appropriate action to take.
The IGG faults Dr Okello for “failure to proactively follow up with the executive director and management team to ensure the situation at the landfill was promptly attended to.”
The report adds: “At the minimum, as a member of the senior management, he ought to have raised the Kiteezi landfill emergency as a matter of priority during the senior management meetings.”
On Tuesday, the State House released a statement confirming the sacking of the trio by the head of state for having criminally neglected their oversight roles as KCCA leaders, an omission that led to the collapse of the Kiteezi landfill.
“In a decisive response to the findings of the IGG report concerning Kiteezi landfill disaster, HE, the President of the Republic of Uganda, has exercised his constitutional authority under Article 172 (1) (a) of the 1995 Constitution to dismiss several key officials of the Kampala Capital City Authority in the public interest due to significant evidence of criminal negligence, “read in part the State House statement.
The State House statement also revealed that President Museveni had directed the Police’s Criminal Intelligence Directorate (CID) and other crime management agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter further, focusing on the angle of criminal negligence associated with what they called a distressing event.
In the meantime and in the absence of the top KCCA executive leadership, the minister for Kampala has been tasked to advise the President on the interim appointments for the crucial vacant slots as the Public Service Commission embarks on recruitment of the new office bearers.
