Eng. David Luyimbazi, the sacked deputy executive director (ED) of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), has declared his readiness for an investigation into the criminal negligence of the Kiteezi landfill in the Wakiso district.
Luyimbazi made the remarks on Tuesday, September 24, a day after being dismissed in public interest by President Yoweri Museveni alongside his boss, Dorothy Kisaka, and the public health director, Dr. Daniel Okello, over negligence of the landfill.
The 36-acre landfill, which is the only landfill serving the whole of Kampala, collapsed last month, killing over 35 people.
Luyimbazi had on Wednesday morning returned to the office at City Hall in Kampala to clear his desk.
“When you offer yourself to do this kind of work, you should always be ready to be subjected to any investigations. I will offer myself to be investigated,” he told journalists as he prepared to remove his items.
“We have to face the reality; you needed resources to decommission Kiteezi, and to find a new dumping site. The resources were unavailable,” he added.
In a related development, KCCA street cleaners have jubilated about the sacking of the top officials
The cleaners claimed they have worked without pay for several months and accused the sacked officials of doing “nothing” to address their issues.
In January 2022, Kisaka revealed that they had over 4,000 cleaners, while answering questions about the reports that KCCA had declined to renew their contracts.
On March 4, 2024, KCCA started verifying all cleaners so that they could be paid.
The verification exercise was also meant to establish a register of casual labour within the city under known groups of the saving and credit cooperative organisations.
By the time of firing the three officials, it was not yet clear whether this register had been established.
Decisive response
President Museveni dismissed the officials in what the State House press statement called “a decisive response” to the findings of the Inspector General of Government’s (IGG) report concerning the disaster.
The IGG’s report, which was filed by the deputy, Anne Muhairwe, “clearly outlined the severe oversight and negligence” exhibited by the three officials.
The State House also said that in light of these findings, the President called upon the Criminal Investigations Department and other crime management agencies to thoroughly investigate the matter further, focussing on the angle of criminal negligence associated with “this distressing event.”.
“To ensure a swift transition in leadership, the President has directed the Public Service Commission to advertise the positions of executive director, deputy executive director, and director of public health, with a goal of appointing new officials within three months,” it said.
Additionally, the President tasked the minister for Kampala, Hajjati Minsa Kabanda, with advising him on interim appointments for these crucial positions to ensure that operations within KCCA continue without disruption until permanent replacements are in place.
