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Top bosses at health services commission and the ministry of public service in Kampala are unhappy and feel they have been undermined by Kampala Minister Minsa Kabanda who has taken over their role of recruiting a key director position at KCCA.
The directorate in question is that of public health. Dentist Dr. Daniel Okello has been serving as director public health for the last ten years since the time of Jennifer Musisi Ssemakula. His final contract was given to him on June 16th 2021 and it had to last for three years.
So, on June 17th he was supposed to be out of office but instead Minsa Kabanda, well aware that the process was being handled by the health services commission, has written a letter reappointing and directing Okello to bounce back for an indefinite period.
This has annoyed guys at HSC who are already working on the process to get a new director public health for Kampala. The health commission recently received Okello’s papers and those of others and they are working with the Ministry of Public Service in Wandegeya to get the new director in place.
But in a letter written to head public service Lucy Nakyobe Mbonye, Minsa makes it clear that she has taken over the role and is having Okello stay in office because he is a very good health manager who Kampala can’t lose at this time when he is supposed to be fighting COVID in the city. The minister must have forgotten that COVID ended long time ago and it’s no longer a problem for Uganda.
Kabanda also says that she still wants Okello to remain around at KCCA because he is the only man who can support the world bank GKMA project to modernise all the roads and drainage systems in Kampala metropolitan area districts of Mukono, Wakiso and Kampala.
But sources at health services commission and public service ministry say that Kabanda is going to be reported to the president for usurping other peoples power and mandate. Sources add that politicians like Kabanda aren’t allowed by law to interfere in staff recruitment processes because they don’t have the necessary expertise to know who is eligible and best suits to serve the public interest in such technical positions.
The public service ministry says the best thing to do would be to wait for the health commission to complete the process as one of the managers serves in acting capacity since public health at KCCA is a public office which isn’t supposed to be personalised as if it’s for Dr. Daniel Okello’s as a person.
Minsa Kabanda has defended herself saying she is only making some administrative stopgap measures adding that she hasn’t renewed Dr. Okello’s contract because she is very much aware she doesn’t have those powers. She says public health is very important in Kampala especially on the Covid issue yet its only Dr. Okello who can keep occupying the vacuum and no one else.
But Dr. Okello’s tenure as head public health in KCCA has been characterised by problems like cleaners striking over lack of pay. The cleaners are more than 4,000 in number and have recently been rioting and accusing the directorate of refusing to pay them on time.
He is also responsible for the collecting of garbage in Kampala which is one area where local politicians like city MPs and councilors have always alleged to be a leakage for corruption in Kampala as the taxpayers money commonly gets eaten through inflated fuel and other operational expenses.
Because it also covers all KCCA health centers in Kampala, the public health directorate takes a lions share of KCCA’s budget along with engineering. This is in billions which explains why the process to determine who heads the directorate after Dr. Okello has always been very controversial as contending interests clash.
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