By The Insight Post Uganda
The contentious debate surrounding the creation of the Mukono District Service Commission (DSC) has encountered setback as top-ranking district officials reached a consensus to suspend the process.
The officials including Elizabeth Namanda, the Chief Administrative Officer, Betty Hope Nakasi, the District Council Speaker, and Rev. Peter Bakaluba Mukasa the Mukono Local Council (LC5) Chairperson held a closed meeting to decide on the fate of the process following a heated debate among councillors.
For several weeks, a disagreement has persisted among the councillors regarding the matter, with some advocating for the establishment of a District Service Commission (DSC) to oversee the recruitment of civil servants. Conversely, others have proposed the option of hiring a DSC from neighbouring districts to handle the task on their behalf.
In a Friday district council session, discontented councillors made their demands clear regarding the inclusion or exclusion of the DSC issue on the agenda. On recognising the impasse, the said officials convened to engage in discussions and find a suitable resolution to move forward.
Prior to the intense drama, Lukeman Sseggayi, a councillor representing Goma division, proposed to adopt the matter on the order paper for discussion.
But Martha Nassazi, a woman councillor representing Nakifuma-Naggalam Town Council, objected to this suggestion, arguing that the matter in question was already before the court and therefore should not be considered.
During one of the council sittings in April, Steven Gganzi, a councillor representing Namataba town council, suggested that the Mukono district leadership seeks temporary assistance from neighbouring district service commissions to recruit civil servants.
He suggested that the district should formally approach the Ministry of Public Service and request assistance from neighbouring districts, specifically Buikwe, Kayunga, Buvuma, and Wakiso.
Despite the persistent need for a functional DSC, the district council has been grappling with internal conflicts, hampering their progress in establishing their own service commission.
These internal conflicts have posed obstacles and hindered the council’s ability to effectively move forward with the necessary steps for the establishment of the commission.
In May of last year, there was a disagreement between the speaker and Rev. Bakaluba over the appointment of the DSC chairperson. This disagreement arose after the chairperson submitted the name of Dr. Godfrey Kibuuka Kisuule for approval as the DSC chairperson to replace Stella Margret Kiondo.
The chairperson claimed to have received complaints from residents about Kiondo’s integrity, despite her having been selected by the urban councils as their representative.
However, the Speaker (Nakasi) proposed that Kiondo be given a chance to serve as the chairperson, arguing that the complaints against her had not been thoroughly investigated to prove her guilty.
Rev. Bakaluba, however, rejected the proposal, stating that there was no need to waste time on people with questionable reputations when there are several individuals with integrity in the district.
In February of this year, the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi, directed Rev. Bakaluba to establish a District Service Commission as per the guidelines provided by the Public Service Commission or face sanctions.
On January 19, 2023, the PSC Chairperson, Winnie Agnes Kabogoza Musoke, wrote to Rev. Bakaluba and the Mukono district council, instructing them to follow the proper procedures for constituting the DSC in order to avoid costly legal battles for the government.
In the previous financial year, the district returned Ugx1.2 billion allocated for staff recruitment to the consolidated funds due to the lack of a service commission.
In February of this year, Samuel Busulwa, a resident of Mukono district filed a lawsuit against the PSC for rejecting the appointment of two individuals as members of the District Service Commission.
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