KCCA ED, Dorothy Kisaka
The media is awash with stories of the unavoidable expiry of Miss Dorothy Kisaka’s contract of service and the seeming impasse between her and her supervisors, the Ministers of Kampala Capital City Authority and Metropolitan Affairs.
Various high government officials and governance analysts have had no kind words for the soft-spoken administrator. When Iron Lady Robinah Nabbanja, Prime Minister, was delegated by His Excellency the President to oversee the implementation of his directives on Kampala markets, it is reported that she was so agitated to the extent of calling the top city administrator a saboteur. In one of the heated meetings the Prime Minister openly accused the Executive Director of hiring goons to attack her and frustrate her efforts; “Your Excellency, the ED is the biggest problem of Kampala.”
The Government Spokesperson, Mr. Ofwono Opondo, during one of the weekly widely watched political show The Frontline on NBS Television citing managerial weaknesses, openly commented; “The KCCA ED is very incompetent . She is not up to the task.” Whether this is the government position or was merely his personal feeling remains to be seen.
However, equity calls for an objective assessment of someone’s performance objectively. The achievements, shortfalls putting into consideration other factors above the individual’s control.
In doing so, one must carefully examine the performance indicators in the key aspects such as governance, revenue collection, enforcement, infrastructural development and maintenance, administration of resources and contracts management. Our team has tried to exhaustively interrogate these areas and we strive to give you our unbiased assessment based on the information in our possession;
- Governance:
Madam Dorothy Kisaka inherited a KCCA that was grossly tainted with high-handedness. The morale of employees was very low and during the 2years proceeding Miss Jennifer Musisi’s exit leading to Presidential Directives to suspend a number of activities such as expulsion of street vendors and Boda Bodas and other interventions meant to bring the much needed order.
The newly appointed Executive Director informed the President of the state of affairs and the need to have motivated employees. She requested the President to overhaul the entire Authority and allow her recruit new employees. The President reasoned that this was too extreme and guided that this should be done gradually. However, instead of the Executive Director forging a working relationship with the said officers, she sought to isolate them and make them redundant by concentrating all operations in her office creating a unit called Strategy where she informally employed her relatives and confidants. In the Directorate of Gender and Community Services she waited for the contracts of seasoned administrators like Harriet Mudondo and Dr. Esau Garukande to expire before she irregularly appointed Mr. JB Bashinyora (Town Clerk Makindye) as acting Director and her brother Mr. Gabula Emmanuel as Supervisor Markets.
In the Directorate of Education and Social Services, Miss Kisaka’s fights with the Director a one Juliet Namuddu have been widely published.
Miss Kisaka has also been accused of ignoring the IGG’s recommendations to interdict officers from her office under Strategy who were found culpable of having negotiated bribes from contractors in an ADB Funded project. It is on record that instead of interdicting them the ED simply gave them a one month paid leave. Miss Kisaka also employed her sister a one Solome Otuku as Executive Assistant, a role whose qualification is a Master’s Degree yet she held a Diploma in Catering.
On the flipside, the appointment of Simon Kasyate in Corporate Affairs, irregular or not, has given KCCA a much needed human face and it can be argued that city-zens pain is a bit assuaged because they know someone in KCCA is available to respond to their concerns. More like how AIGP (Rtd) Asan Kasingye gave and continues to give Uganda Police a human face.
Verdict: On the scale of 10 this site therefore feels Miss Kisaka has scored 0/10
- Revenue collection:
Revenue collection has increased by 104% according to the reports. Hitting an all time high since the Authority was created 11years ago. This has been touted as the biggest achievement of Dorothy Kisaka. Initiatives like automated revenue collection, e-citie and the non-conventional ones like the Executive Director’s favouritism towards the Director Revenue Collections Mr. Nowere Robert have been cited for this exponential growth. KCCA has also been a beneficiary of the introduction of Park User Fees, which has brought in over 15 Billion Shillings. This however had nothing to do with Executive Director but has been attributed to the relationship between the State Minister for Kampala Hon. Kyoffatogabye Kabuye, the Minister for Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamala and the Minister for Local Government Hon. Raphael Magyezi.
Verdict: Whereas some members on our panel argue that the Executive Director set low targets and did not exhaust all the revenue streams, we all agree that it is better to set low achievable targets than impossibly ambitious ones.
Miss Kisaka thus scores 6/10 on this aspect.
- Enforcement:
A number of initiatives have been put in place over the last 3years such as Boda Boda training and registration, expulsion of street vendors and removal of illegal structures. However, all the above initiatives have since been abandoned due to inability to enforce by KCCA.
Whereas KCCA Enforcement officers supported by UPDF and Uganda Police can be seen patrolling streets and grabbing street vendors, no one knows how these people are handled after they have been arrested. What is for sure is that the number of street vendors doesn’t seem to reduce.
The Executive Director is accused of side-lining the official enforcement structure and creating a personal militia in the name of Rapid Response Unit (RRU) composed of “former” criminal led by a one “Commander” Menton to enforce her Smart City Agenda. These can be seen patrolling the City in droves putting on black t-shirts. On numerous occasions they can be seen arresting Boda Bodas without helmets which is a responsibility of traffic police and have been accused of extortionist tendencies by market vendors such as those in Nakasero and Owino. How many they are, how much they are paid and their reporting structure is one of the tightly guarded secrets in the Office of The Executive Director, however, the influence they wield can only be compared to that held by Crime Preventers during Gen. Kale Kayihura’s tenure as IGP and Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner.
Verdict: The Executive Director scores 3/10 in this aspect.
- Infrastructural Development and maintenance.
A number of infrastructure projects such as road construction, signalling of junctions and the construction of Lubigi Drainage Channel have been undertaken during Miss Kisaka’s tenure of office. However, it can be argued that she found most of these in the pipeline. Miss Kisaka’s failure to maintain the already existing infrastructure leading to the deepening of potholes which culminated into a much popularised Pothole Exhibition on Twitter is a clear indication that she had no idea how to handle the most crucial aspect of the city.
The city also experienced demonstrations by casual labourers who sweep the roads and de-silt the trenches accusing Kisaka of attempting to dismiss them from their jobs in favour of Seven Hills which is linked to Rapid Response Unit.
Whereas Miss Kisaka argued that her intention was turn Sauls (Criminals) into Pauls, intelligence reports indicate that the number of employees under Seven Hills, just like RRU were grossly inflated.
It should be noted that the Minister for Kampala Hon. Minsa Kabanda intervened and halted the process assuring the casual labourers that they will maintain their jobs.
On the side of private developments KCCA is accused of frustrating developers by not issuing building permits in time leading to construction of buildings without approved plans.
Verdict: Miss Kisaka score 0/10 on this aspect.
- Administration of KCCA resources.
Due to irregular recruitments our team believes that KCCA resources have been greatly mismanaged.
The human resource that has been rendered redundant such as those in Enforcement and other directorates whose roles have been duplicated in the office of the Executive Director continue to earn salaries with no work done.
A document seen by our team also indicates that the Executive Director’s sister a one Solome Otuku who was recruited with a Diploma in Catering for the role of Executive Assistant was given 46Million Shillings to study a Bachelor’s Degree which is against the institution’s policy.
Verdict: 0/10
- Contracts Management.
KCCA has lost a number of funding offers from development partners due failure to manage contracts. On the Lubigi Drainage Project funded by World Bank under KIIDP 3, KCCA failed to secure right of way on some parts at Kyebando leading to non-completion of the work. It should be noted that the Project Manager was accused of compensating ghost Project Affected Persons which prompted the Deputy RCC Rubaga Mr. Burora Anderson to halt the works and ordering the arrest of the Project Manager.
On the African Development Bank funded project to improve infrastructure, officers from the office of the Executive Director led by a one Kirya Michael were implicated by the Inspector General of Government for negotiating kickbacks. Whereas, the IGG recommended their interdiction, the Executive Director shielded them and today they continue working at City Hall as if nothing happened.
Verdict: 2/10
Conclusion: We invite you, our readers, based on the information we have shared and what you may know that we do not, to evaluate and give us your views on the final verdict of KCCA’s Executive Director’s performance over the last 3years.
