KCCA must up its game 

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) returned Shs 13.5 billion to the treasury.

The authority failed to use the money to recruit teachers and nurses for the city. KCCA officials told the parliamentary committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) that the money was returned because the ministry of Public Service did not grant them permission to recruit the nurses and teachers as planned in the 2021–2022 financial year.

According to KCCA, Public Service didn’t approve the recruitment drive because the authority’s wage bill would increase. KCCA has about 10 health centers, which are in five divisions.

These health centers are expected to handle about 100,000 people. Some health centers receive as many as 1,000 patients per day. According to the ministry of Health standards, each health center IV is meant to have 48 health workers and one medical doctor, while the health center III is supposed to have 19 health workers and one medical doctor. KCCA officials admitted before COSASE that the health centers are understaffed.

KCCA needs to recruit general nurses, midwives, psychiatrists, theater attendants, and medical doctors, among others. In some health centers, some health workers have reached the retirement age and, therefore, need to be replaced. In others, they don’t have medical doctors. In the same vein, the authority failed to recruit teachers for schools in the five city divisions.

It is strange Ugandans are suffering amidst plenty. The money to recruit staff in the two critical sectors was allocated, but KCCA didn’t play its part and decided to return the money to the consolidated fund.

KCCA as an administrative unit is very vulnerable to disease outbreaks because of the ease with which people come into and leave the city. Therefore, KCCA ought to apologize to the city dwellers for failing to do what they are supposed to do.

This laissez-faire attitude is seen in many KCCA works. They have failed to get rid of the boda boda riders and street children on the streets. Some streets have become dangerous because there are no street lights.

In some cases, due to poor workmanship, the repaired roads hardly last a year before they need another layer of tarmac. Kampala dwellers and visitors as well need to be healthy, and the only way this can be achieved is when KCCA ensures that the health centers are equipped and run by the required number of professionals.