An old Runyankore saying goes…. “when 2 elephants fight..it is the grass that suffers…”
Whereas reports of ineptness in service delivery pile at the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), an investigation conducted by this website reveals the cause as the big fight pitting the executive director Dorothy Kisaka against her deputy Eng. David Luyimbazi.
The pair’s contract expires next year in August, however, both parties are vowing to fail renewal of the other.
Few insiders this website spoke to at City Hall, but pleaded to remain unnamed so as to speak freely and also fearing reprimand recounted the source of the cold war which has been ongoing for close to one and half years following their appointment in June 2020.
“All had been well until early 2021 when Eng. Luyimbazi complained of being undermined by the ED,” an insider narrated.
To this present day, Kisaka and Luyimbazi can’t share a table.
Asked how, then, does the duo run the Authority, a separate source said, they split the directorates and created camps with only loyalists.
Battle for Supremacy
Two aides of Ms Kisaka have been pointed to as the basis of the silent war.
“Her executive assistant Solome Otuku and Mr Adolf. These two started assigning the deputy ED which he found as sheer contempt by his colleague,” said a source.
This website established that Ms Salome has no degree while Adolf has no known title and is not employed by public service, however, they wield a lot power, to an extent they can determine what the ED does which Luyimbazi objected.
“To see the ED you go through them. And when the ED had assignments for her deputy, he would go through her those aides,” an insider added.
Mr Luyimbazi’s objection however, didn’t go down well with Kisaka and instead the authority started developing cracks with both camps unleashing mechanisms of silencing the other. This is after Salome and Adolf instigated a rumour that Luyimbazi was eyeing Kisaka’s seat.
The four directorates; Human Resource, Legal, Physical Planning and Engineering have since split.
Legal and Human Resource departments are supervised by Ms Kisaka while Physical Planning and Engineering fall under the Luyimbazi’s docket but switched sides.
The fight has since sucked in KCCA stuff that work under the four directorates since the directors demand loyalty before the two principals.
To show how the directors have taken sides, an insider narrated an incident in which Ms Kisaka ordered engineers to demolish a canopy of Mackinnon Suites in Kampala which the owners were erecting because it was approved by Luyimbazi.
“Upon getting news that Luyimbazi had given the Hotel go ahead to build, she sent her people and a tractor to put everything down seal off the area,” said a source.
In retaliation, Luyimbazi’s loyalists in HR office leaked Salome’s letter in which she sought KCCA to facilitate her degree at Atlantic University with 43 million.
The letter went viral on social media exposing Kisaka as employing very unqualified staff in her office.
Her henchmen to cover up on Salome’s letter, sponsored syndicated malicious online stories how Luyimbazi and Nakawa Town Clerk Denis Omodi had hijacked city hall and usurped the ED’s powers.
Luyimbazi’s team revenged by leaking audio tapes of Ivan Kirya, supervisor financial reporting and acting manager management accounting who was recorded soliciting a bribe from contractors.
The Inspectorate of Government has since written to Kisaka to subject Kirya to disciplinary process and protocols on grounds of their involvement in a corrupt and collusive practice.
“So basically its ping-pong at City Hall. There is no more serious work apart from planning to expose themselves before the public,” a source said.
Kisaka’s camp tells whoever cares to listen in the KCCA corridors that Luyimbazi has only 10 months and once his contract ends, he will be out of City Hall.
The rival camp, says Luyimbazi will have to succeed Kisaka because he is in good books with appointing authority.
A source said that in this cold war, Luyimbazi’s camp had emerged strong for using media until the rival camp hired a senior journalists Simon Kasyate to manage the flow of information at City Hall.
Our efforts to reach Kisaka and her nemesis were unsuccessful as their known phone numbers were unavailable.