Robert Mwanje
10 July 2009
Mukono — The government has rejected the opposition's proposal for a referendum to determine the government's plan to extend Kampala boundaries and take over its administration
Local Government Minister Adolf Mwesige said the Democratic Party's proposal is unconstitutional and uncalled for since the city takeover by the government is a constitutional command.
"A referendum would require amendment of the Constitution. They are [opposition] engaging in a project which will not help them because amending the Constitution requires majority parliamentary approval," Mr Mwesige told journalists in Seeta after opening a two-day workshop for district chief accounting officers.
The minister's comments come days after DP, which is strongly opposed to the takeover of the city, advocated for a referendum, to decide whether the government should proceed with the plan.
The government last week tabled a new Bill that seeks to abolish KCC and introduce another outfit "Kampala Capital City Authority" [KCCA] to manage the affairs of the city. But top DP officials unanimously opposed the takeover and demanded for a referendum before the Kampala Capital City Bill 2009 is enacted.
Currently, the opposition is collecting signatures with an intention of petitioning the Electoral Commission and Parliament to block the Bill ratification. Over 6,000 signatures have been collected already. The Bill, among other things, provides for a legal basis for the government to take over the city's administration. Under the arrangement, Kampala would extend to Mukono, Entebbe, Wakiso and part of Mpigi. The new city structure provides for an executive director, a resident city commissioner and division heads, all appointed by the President.
Once approved, the plan will automatically make the mayor's position ceremonial who will be elected by KCCA from among the directly-elected councillors. Mr Mwesige insists that there is nothing wrong with having a lord mayor since the directly elected ones have failed their obligations. "What's wrong with the government's decision to intervene after the elected ones have failed?" he asked. "There is nothing unconstitutional about the lord mayor.
Should we continue to have heaps of garbage and dust in the city because we want elected leaders?" But DP president John Ssebaana Kizito yesterday told Daily Monitor that the government was dodging the people's mandate since it has always lost general elections in urban areas.
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