By Solomon Hamala
BUGWERI
The Bugweri district councilors and LC5 chairperson, Shafic Muzilansa have sealed off the office of the chief administrative officer over alleged poor performance and failure to implement council resolutions.
Nelson Kirenda as a sign of dismissing him from the district citing poor performance and failure to implement the council resolutions.
The angry councilors led by Abbey Buyinza, the male youth councilor and Steven Batunde, the councilor for Namalemba sub county also the secretary for finance sealed off Nelson Kirenda’s office using timber which they nailed against the wall to prevent access to the office.
The leaders sealed off the office on Friday, 11th August 2023 in the absence of Kirenda but in the presence of the RDC, Billy Mulindwa and police which had stormed the headquarters but could not deter them from the action.
Batunde said that the district is performing poorly in all sectors which benefit the community because the CAO is not working with leaders and failure to implement their respective council resolutions.
Batunde and other leaders vowed never to allow Kirenda back in the office unless the ministry of local government transfers him to another district and post a new CAO they will work with for the good of service delivery in the district.
He also noted that Kirenda had earlier notified them that he is tired of working in the district and wondered why he tried to block them from holding the meeting and sealing off the office by inviting police which arrested councilor Buyinza upon arrival at the premises.
Olive Peace Kagoya, the female youth councilor noted that they already passed the resolution of dismissing Kirenda on 12th June because of poor performance.
She attributed the poor performance to repeated failure to implement the council resolutions they pass on behalf of the community they represent.
Kagoya also cited salary discrepancies among civil servants where some junior staff earn high salary than their seniors which demotivates workers.
She vowed not to allow Kirenda back in the office unless he is transferred to another district and threatened more havoc if their demand is not fulfilled.
The district vice chairperson, Rehema Kyaniika appealed to the minister for local government, hon. Raphael Magyezi and the permanent secretary to urgently transfer the CAO since he is currently at logger heads with the leaders in the district.
Kyaniika accused the CAO of persistent failure to confirm most of the heads of departments who are currently in acting positions for years like education, health, and engineering among others.
She said that this demotivates workers to perform to their expectations which was also one of the reasons the district was ranked among the poorest performing districts in the recent assessment.
The LC5, Shaffic Muzilansa supported the councilors’ grievances arguing that Kirenda is one of the factors their district was ranked among the last 10 worst performing districts in the recent assessment.
Muzilansa advised Kirenda to leave peacefully since the environment now is not favorable for his stay as leaders are not willing to work with him.
However, before sealing off the office, police which was led by the OC station Bugweri police station, Robert Nagolo violently arrested councilor Abbey Buyinza and took him to police on arrival at the premises where they had planned to first have a meeting over their grievances.
But the arrest angered colleagues and the LC5 Muzilansa who asked Nagolo for his release but in vain saying he was responding to orders from his boss DPC Fred Baluku who was away.
The leaders who were later joined by the RDC Billy Mulindwa tasked her to effect the immediate release or else would cause more havoc.
Mulindwa later tasked Nagolo over the matter and he bowed to pressure and released Buyinza who later joined the rest in the sealing exercise.
Buyinza vowed never to be intimidated despite the intended plans to charge him over inciting violence over Kirenda’s issue.
He asserted that the arrest could have been stemmed from his demands of a government vehicle which had earlier been missing at the district which Kirenda had allegedly given away for use by other people.
However, when contacted Kirenda declined to comment about the matter saying he was not updated of what transpired and promised to react later.
Kirenda who had worked for over 20 years in different districts in the same position clocked the mandatory retirement age last year but was later given a two year contract which is expected to end in April next year.
