Lawmakers on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee have questioned the relevance of the existence of the Ministry of Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, yet there already exists Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), saying the funds being used to run the Ministry would instead go towards improving services within the city and other surrounding areas.
The MPs made the remarks on Thursday while interfacing with officials from the Ministry of Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs that had appeared before the Committee to respond to the queries raised in the December 2023 Auditor General’s report, where they decried the duplication of roles between the Ministry of Kampala, KCCA and Ministry of Lands & Urban Development.
Bazil Bataringaya (Kashari North) said, “The Accounting Officer should indicate to us, when she is implementing, is there justification of this Ministry, versus given the Environment she is operating in that has other body corporate entities, that plan and put into effect other plans. What is their mandate versus these other entities, it will guide us to know whether the funds they are accounting for are put to good use and there is value for money?”
He was backed by Patrick Nsamba (Kssanda North) who remarked, “In terms of mandate, wouldn’t we be duplicating when we have a Ministry of Urban Development? We have Kampala Capital City Authority, a full entity, do we really need this Ministry? I really wanted to gain confidence about the relevance of this Ministry in the process of development of this country.”
However, Monica Edemachu Ejua, Undersecretary, Ministry of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs defended the existence of the Ministry alongside that of Kampala Capital City Authority, saying the Ministry is meant to supervise and offer guidance to the management of the city and other surrounding areas.
She added that while KCCA comes up with subsidiary laws like ordinances and by-laws, the Ministry ensures that the implementation carried by KCCA is done within the existing framework and they carry out their as expected, in order to coordinate the planning functions of all the nine entities within Kampala Metropolitan region.
“The Ministry doesn’t in any way duplicate activities of other entities, Kampala Capital City Authority has the mandate to implement government programmes at grassroot but Ministry of Kampala plays oversight role and comes out with the policies on issues that haven’t been addressed like when it comes to amending the law for KCCA, it is the work of the Ministry and preparing policy documents to Cabinet is the work of the Ministry,” explained Edemachu.