The State Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, Kabuye Kyofatogabye has said the authority needs an additional Shs17 billion to facilitate the remuneration of city political leaders.
Appearing before the parliamentary committee on Presidential Affairs yesterday, Kyofatogabye said that out of the required Shs17billion, Shs10.2 billion will be spent on councillors’ salaries, while Shs 6.7 billion will be spent on other costs such as furniture and others.
"What brought the problem was the increase in the number of councillors. So the funds we had could only last for six months. So the Shs17 billion we are seeking is to clear them up to the end of the financial year so that we can budget properly in the next financial year,” Kyofatogabye said.
Among those affected is the speaker and deputy speaker for KCCA and urban division councils whose emoluments cannot be processed due to lack of a legal framework that spells out their salaries and allowances.
Kyofatogabye explained that this has suffocated the operations and activities of the authority including remuneration of councillors whose number has risen from 258 to 464 following the implementation of new electoral reforms.
He noted that the mainly affected areas range from administration, human resource to capital development but the main issue regards remuneration of political leaders where I have lost almost Shs20 billion.
The KCCA Amendment Act 2015, which led to the establishment of the positions of speaker and deputy speaker at City Hall, is silent on the facilitation and emoluments of these leaders.
The chairperson of the committee on Presidential Affairs, Jesca Ababiku blamed the minister for failing to table the amendment before Parliament for consideration.
“Usually when we pass laws, we expect them to be effectively implemented and if you face any challenges during implementation, then we expect you [KCCA] to let us know,” Ababiku said.
