Beti Kamya lawyers ask for more time before negotiating with Lukwago over interfering with his work

The Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala has adjourned hearing of the case in in which Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago dragged Kampala Minister Beti Kamya to court  for interfering with his work.

Lukwago recently dragged Kamya to court seeking to restrain her from passing off as the political head of Uganda’s capital prompting court to ask them to first exhaust avenues of settling their differences out of court before a full trial would commence in case the negotiations fail.

On Tuesday, both parties were supposed to update the court on the proceedings of the negotiations but Kamya’s lawyer, Mac Dusman Kabega asked for an adjournment on grounds that he had  just got instructions from the minister to represent her, before  asking for adequate time to be able to study the case file.

"Both (Lukwago and Kamya) have not had a chance to meet and explore opportunities of amicable settlement as directed by court. I request for another opportunity on behalf of both parties to do so,”Kabega asked court.

Last month, Justice Henrietta Wolayo ordered both Kamya and Lukwago to first exhaust avenues of settling their differences out of court and  appointed  a mediator to handle the process but  warned that failure by both parties to reach a consensus , the case would go through a full trial.

However, Lukwago argues that he has on several occasions written formal requests to the minister to attend Authority meetings to iron out several issues relating to the development of the capital city but she has boycotted them.

In his suit, Lukwago contends that unless court intervenes and restrains Kamya from making such irrational decisions and passing-off as the lord mayor, the sovereignty of the people of Kampala will be put in jeopardy and hence forth affect the social contract he made with his voters in May 2016.

“The minister has on several occasions arbitrarily taken unilateral decisions and purported to implement the same without involving the office of the lord mayor as the political head of the authority,”Lukwago notes.

According to the Lord Mayor, the actions of minister have solely frustrated his ability to execute his duties of developing programs and strategies for the development of the capital city.

Section 11 of the KCCA Act vests the executive powers of the city in the office of the lord mayor.

The same act says that the lord mayor is the political head of the capital city among many other administration duties, a role the lord mayor claims the minister has taken over illegally.

Justice Wolayo adjourned the case to June 11 to hear from both parties hoping by that time they will have concluded   the mediation process.