Africa-Press – Uganda. Mbale, one of the new cities that started operations in 2020, has been embroiled in leadership wrangles that have hampered service delivery.
The wrangles pit the City Council leadership against the Industrial City Division mayor, Mr Muhamood Masaba, and the Resident City Commissioner (RCC), Mr Ahamad Washaki.
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The City Council led by the City Mayor, Mr Cassimu Namugali, accuses Mr Masaba and Mr Washaki of usurping its powers and in so doing, undermining the council’s ability to discharge its duties.
The wrangles started after the 2021 General Election when Mr Masaba demanded office space at City Council offices following his election as Division City mayor.
The wrangles continued over issues including administration, and collection of revenue.
The squabbles climaxed last month after Mr Masaba opposed the City Council’s resolution to evict vendors from the streets in a bid to reorganise the city.
Mr Masaba said the reason he opposes city council decisions is solely because they are anti National Resistance Movement (NRM) and anti-development.
“I fight for my people. You bring people from outside to get tenders when we have ours here,” he said in an interview on Friday.
Mr Abdallah Magambo, the deputy speaker of Mbale City Council, said : “The show of force by leaders to claim powers, which are not theirs, should end. The politicians should allow technical officers to do their work and avoid illegal assumption of power.”
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Mr Magambo said the RCC needs to be retooled on his roles by the Office of the President so as to do his duties as enshrined in the Constitution instead of behaving like a political head of council.
Mr Washaki maintains that he is doing his job.
One of the issues of contention is Mr Washaki’s opposition of the council’s decision to award a contract for the collection of street parking fees to Nalu Tour and Travel Ltd.
Mr Washaki said after scrutiny, his office discovered that Nalu Tour and Travel Ltd did not have powers of attorney on his bid.
However, the council maintains that the contract was lawfully awarded.
“We gave out this contract after getting a go ahead by PPDA (Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority) tribunal and Commercial Court, which handled the two petitions from other competitors,” Mr Namugali said.
Mr Washaki has also opposed the council on the decision to alter the approved designs on Nabao road, which is being constructed by Dott Services.
Mr Kenneth Khatuli, the deputy town clerk of Mbale City, said the alterations of road design were a request from the community.
Mr Washaki, however, said: “This will lead to delays in the completion and yet the construction was supposed to be handed over on February 20, 2021.”
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Mr James Kutosi, the spokesperson of Mbale City, said Mr Washaki should use professional methods to gather information instead of relying on rumours.
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