When Eng Andrew Kitaka announced he was stepping down from his role as KCCA director, Engineering on October 31, the news was greeted with surprise.
To insiders, however, this was an open secret that President Museveni had refused to extend his contract. For 16 months, Kitaka served as the acting KCCA executive director following the resignation of Jennifer Musisi in October 2018. When Dorothy Kisaka took over as substantial executive director in a major shake-up in July, Kitaka retained his position as director, Engineering.
However, according to reliable sources within KCCA, his working relationship with the new powerbrokers was rocky. Matters were compounded by allegations of conspiracy, which ultimately contributed to his exit. The Observer has learnt that Harriet Mudondo, the director, Gender, Community and Production, has also resigned after her contract was not renewed.
The two officials were the longest-serving KCCA directors having joined in 2011 when Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) was instituted. Their departure, according to sources, has largely been fuelled by intrigue within as well as allegations of conflict of interest in KCCA operations.
"Kitaka had become alienated in top-level meetings that often sought to reverse earlier decisions he made," said the source.
OWINO MARKET SAGA
A case in point is the contested ownership of St Balikuddembe market popularly known as Owino in which billions of shillings are at stake, not to mention the livelihoods of an estimated 100,000 vendors. For years, Godfrey Kayongo, the chairman of St Balikuddembe Market Stalls, Space and Lock-up Shops Owners Association Limited, has been embroiled in fights with other groups over the market ownership.
Kitaka was accused of giving away the market to Kayongo during the lockdown period with minimal activity in the market, a move that would have seen vendors displaced for a multi-storeyed building.
In May, Kitaka gave Kayongo the green light to turn the market into a "modern commercial development with a multi- storey retail and office complex." "In principle, we have no objection to your development of the land... Accordingly, please liaise with the directorate of Physical Planning for further guidance with respect to plans for your project prior to submission of architectural plans," reads part of a May 15 letter, a copy of which The Observer has seen.
Incidentally, what raises eyebrows is that Kayongo's application to develop the market was done in 2010. A source at City Hall who preferred anonymity said the deal was worth about Shs 30bn and that it was a calculated move to displace the vendors at a time when there wouldn't be resistance.
In August, a similar KCCA order to demolish St Peter's church in Ndeeba backfired when the ringleaders were arrested and government has since reposed the land. However, when Kisaka took over two months ago, she opened an inquiry into the issue after a petition from vendors and in September, President Museveni ordered for the election of new market leaders and also directed that all markets in the city be returned to the hands of government.
"The problem of hijacking markets and abattoirs in Kampala has gone on for too long...," Museveni warned in a letter addressed to Kampala Affairs minister Betty Amongi.
"All those [vendors] are being exploited by cliques of leaders that hijack these associations... I, therefore, with immediate effect direct that you remove from government markets the 'Association leaders.'"
In the letter, the president chided the association leaders for registering themselves as proprietors of the markets instead of the vendors.
"I am told that the issue of compensating these imposters is also being messed up by the colluders. The idea was that the government should repossess its markets and the private people that had tried to grab the markets should be compensated for the little they put in if at all. I now hear that compensation is moving very fast but repossession, and illegal multiple taxation is not mentioned at all."
The turnaround of events is said to have greatly upstaged Kitaka, whom some groups of vendors accuse of siding with market leaders like Kayongo to oppress them. When The Observer tried to reach out to Kitaka, he did not pick his number. However, a source who used to work closely with him said he become fed up of the working conditions and personally chose not to seek renewal of his contract.
"He had become tired of being blamed that he had a conflict of interest in giving Kayongo the leeway to develop the market. The Owino letter was based on the fact that they are the title holders. The directive for government to repossess came after the renewal, and that does not mean that they will not be compensated; government will compensate the title holders," said the source.
"Before writing the letter, I can assure you he first consulted the KCCA legal team who are knowledgeable about the matters of Owino. It is the legal team that okayed it. They are the ones who even drafted the letter" Last month, a group of vendors from different markets petitioned Kisaka for the speedy process of organising elections as President Museveni directed.
Led by Susan Kushaba, the group singled out Mudondo and Benna Namugwanya, the state minister for Kampala Affairs, for conspiring with current market leaders to frustrate the process.
"We are happy Mudondo is no longer at KCCA because she has been involved in many market scandals. Actually, she and Namugwanya have been the trouble causers behind the chaos in the markets," she said. "We had nowhere to seek redress because the whole KCCA was corrupted. We pray that going forward, all vendors are going to be registered afresh and elect their leaders." MUSEVENI'S KAMPALA TAKEOVER
MASTERPLAN
For a while, President Museveni has been disappointed with NRM's performance in Kampala. Shortly after the 2016 general elections, Museveni blamed Musisi's highhandedness for NRM's unpopularity in the city and vowed to do something to change the trajectory. In 2018, Musisi resigned before the end of her third tenure in what was a calculated move to jump the ship before being forced out.
A State House source who preferred anonymity told The Observer that as next year's general elections edge closer, the president has decide to flush out all the old top officials for failure to meet both economic and political expectations.
"The president had become tired of endless petitions to State House as well as wrangles emanating from the dealings of KCCA officials and some private individuals at the expense of Kampala's development," said the source.
The NRM performed poorly in Kampala during the 2016 elections and ended up without a single MP from the city. "The president is on a mission to reclaim Kampala by responding to the needs of the ordinary person who has been suffocated by leaders," added the source.
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