Panic has engulfed the acting Executive Director for Kampala Capital City Authority Eng.Andrew Kitaka and his entire senior management are spending sleepless nights after court ordered that the former staff who were fired illegally recently from their jobs at the Authority be granted order to file suit on behalf of other 470 aggrieved ex workers.
The order has come in after former workers led by Ann Achom,Hillary Musimenta,Faridah Kiggwe,Collin Nizeye,Hebert Hamara,Paul Zimbe,Olivia Magulu,JemimaKisa,Beatrice Nakibunda and Elijah Erankunda rushed to court seeking justice.
The aggrieved former employees of KCCA went to court challenging their employer for firing them from their work places without compensating them terminal benefits.
According to the court document which Capital times has managed to obtain signed by Assistant court registrar Joy Kabagye Bahinguza ,granted the order of court in front of petitioning former KCCA worker legal counsel one Godrey Himbaza.
‘’I have granted the applicants to file suit seeking the declaration that they are entitled to a claim of Shs 29.93billion being amount unlawfully deducted from their salary entitlement as employed officers of KCCA, general damages, interest accrued and costs of the suit. ‘She ordered
She added ‘the said shall be advertised in newspapers and no order costs is made as to costs’’
Court Order with the List of former KCCA Employees
After granting them a court order,the dissatisfied employees have left some top leaders at KCCA like Eng.Kitaka,Peter Kaujju in the panicky mood scratching thier heads on how to raise such huge big sums of funds to compensate the relentless workers in case they lose the case .Some of the former workers we talked to revealed that they have even refused to take bribes in order to drop the cases.
Salary Scam at KCCA was unearthed at the tail end of Jennifer Musisi’s leadership, who is purported to have been involved in some irregular procurement processes, ghost workers, syndicated corruption and nepotism.
First suit against KCCA by former employees
It’s alarming that more than760 staff members have not been paid their salaries and the few ones who received their wages have been illegally deducted. On the tense conditions prevailing, the current leadership doesn’t even give room for any worker to raise any injustices at KCCA.
It’s been unearthed that more than 29billion shillings which were meant to pay KCCA workers salaries and wages vanished in thin air after it being paid to ghost workers, a scam which has crippled KCCA payment schedules.
A who at KCCA who preferred anonymity revealed to that, all these injustices are arising from nepotism which was exhibited by the former ED Ms Musisi; where by most of the funds which were not accounted for, could go into the bank accounts of temporary staff employees who were in abide with the Executive Director, while leaving out the qualified technical staff who were recruited through proper procedure of public service frustrated and wallowing in poverty.
“KCCA employees who are supposed to be on contracts for four months have been having their contracts renewed endlessly yet public service guidelines are so clear that no single casual laborer can work in a government organization for more than a year”, a source said.
It has also been established that the current KCCA leadership is on a panicky button after some aggrieved staff have dragged them to courts of law claiming that their salary arrears have not been paid up to now.
The source also intimated to us that, workers who had issues with the way former Executive Director Jeniffer Musisi was running the Authority were intimidated; take for instance; up to now, many workers have never received their appointment letters from public service even though they were screened and passed the job interviews with flying colors .
Moreover, KCCA leadership has gone on to pay huge sums of money to their temporary staff, because they are connected to some big fish in the Authority while leaving behind those who are officially recruited by public service.
A section of marginalized temporary staff who have been neglected have vowed to sue KCCA management on the grounds that the law provides that; any employee who has been on temporary contract for more than one year, is entitled to be employed permanently through public service guidelines.
It has rose dust after finding out that, some of the favored temporary staff have gone on to occupy big posts as managers with no single experience and qualifications like, Julius Kabugo the Acting Director Treasury Services, Kaluba Robert deputy spokesperson, Ssempebwa Isaac of Land Management while rendering the experienced public service recruited workers jobless.
Recently, a whistle blower raised such issues to Inspector General of Government which later prompted Public Service Commission to direct KCCA to advertise all jobs internally including those on temporally basis to re-apply.
But KCCA management never heed to Public Service Directives as most of the workers were recruited illegally.
Due to alarm from the concerned citizens Public service has again directed KCCA to advertise all vacant posts for the general public to apply.
The staff members are again up in arms with KCCA top management after they deducted their annual leave days from 30 days according to standing orders which they consider to be violation of employment rights.
It has also been discovered that KCCA Finance Department has not been remitting staff NSSF funds in time leading to staff members losing monthly interest rates.
KCCA has been a consortium of continuous fraud, nepotism and corruption even after the departure of Jennifer Musisi.
When we contacted KCCA senior managers for a comment on what is going on at KCCA, they all remained tight lipped.
