Lukwago, Musisi leadership row worsens

By Henry Mukasa

THE Lord Mayor of Kampala, Erias Lukwago, has asked Parliament to order the city authority executive director, Jennifer Musisi, to stick to her roles and stop usurping the powers of elected leaders.

Appearing before the presidential affairs committee, Lukwago, who was accompanied by mayors of the four divisions and councillors, observed that Musisi had flouted many clauses of the KCCA Act of 2010, creating a paralysis.

Lukwago described the situation at KCCA as “a time bomb”. He said Musisi awarded tenders without a contracts committee and issued leases without scrutiny.

Lukwago added that the situation had not been helped by the impression being portrayed in the media that he was a ceremonial figure.

“Our work is being bogged down by that picture. That is why the executive director takes unilateral decisions and implements them,” Lukwago told MPs.

He said Musisi was acting in total disregard of section 5 and 6 of KCCA Act.

“As political leaders, we are mandated to make policies, initiate programmes and pass resolutions for technical people led by the executive director to implement. That is the dichotomy which the law created, but unfortunately the role of the authority is being belittled,” Lukwago said.

The Lord Mayor noted that while the law envisages divisions as entities they don not have budgetary provisions. He added that orders from the finance ministry showed that Musisi was the sole controller of finances.

He revealed that on May 2, the permanent secretary at the finance ministry wrote to the accounting officers of divisions, telling them that they had been relieved of their duties.

On vacant positions at KCCA, Lukwago said the minister for Kampala was yet to be introduced to the authority as prescribed by law.
He said the minister would appoint the physical planning committee and determine the emoluments of KCCA leadership.

“We have never been paid since we assumed offices on May 20,” Lukwago said.

He said while the law gave the staff of former KCC the option to join KCCA, no formality had been done.

Lukwago said, instead Musisi moved into the City Hall with a-25-man team of consultants.

The Lord Mayor queried the legal status of the consultants. He handed to the committee, copies of the emoluments of the consultants.

Presidential Power | Solid@rity Institute

I apologize in advance for indulging in a wonky process post yet again today ( “more boy talk,” as Twitter follower Stella calls it), but I want to repeat a point that I haven’t made for a while. It got kicked off by this tweet from Dave Roberts:

My answer: No, he just has the easiest job. McConnell’s sole goal for the past two years has been obstruction, something that Senate rules make easy. And the debt ceiling deal was a dog’s breakfast of ideas from various sources. McConnell took credit for its final form, but he could do that mainly because, unlike John Boehner, he didn’t have to put up with a big tea party contingent and was able to compromise without fear of losing his job.

More broadly, though, is it true that Republicans are just more ruthless and better strategists than President Obama? Matt Yglesias, after noting that the House is refusing to adjourn in order to prevent Obama from making recess appointments (they’ll hold a pro forma session every few days), goes there:

I find that my mood around this fluctuates. Mondays and Wednesdays I’m frustrated by lefties who seem to see the unprecedented Republican obstruction the President is dealing with as part of an 11-dimensional chess game through which Obama “really” wants his progressive initiatives to be frustrated at every [turn]. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I think this is the most damning critique of all. In the face of an opposition that’s been relentlessly innovative, the White House has been staggeringly uncreative. Rather than a game of tit-for-tat, the Republicans seem to be inside the administration’s decision loop, heading off their retaliatory options before the President has even exercised them.

Has the White House really been staggeringly uncreative compared to Republicans? We don’t have to guess about this. We recently had a Republican president in office for eight years and we can see just what he did. Keep in mind that George Bush was a very partisan animal and was advised by Karl Rove, a man with a major-league reputation for political ruthlessness. So what did Bush do to whip Democrats in line when they opposed him? Let’s roll the tape:

American Government and Politics Today 2008, The Essentials

With the Stroke of a Pen, Executive Orders and Presidential Power

Presidential Leadership, Politics and Policy Making

Presidential power, forging the presidency for the twenty-first century

The Challenge of Democracy, American Government in a Global World