LUWERO, UGANDA: Luwero town council LC 3 Chairperson, John Buwembo, is facing a vote of no confidence for alleged abuse of office and misconduct. The town council Speaker, Rebecca Namale, has already written to Luwero Chief Administrative Officer, Elizabeth Namanda, asking her to convene a meeting to debate and vote on the motion for the removal of Buwembo, also known as Chris Johns, from the office.
The letter is copied to the LC 5 Chairperson, Erastus Kibirango, and Resident District Commissioner, Richard Bwabye. The June 22nd, 2022 letter is accompanied by a petition signed by nine councilors. Buwembo is accused of undermining standing committees, restraining his executive members from monitoring projects and refusing to sign the approved budget estimates for the town council.
He is also accused of assaulting councillor Robert Okello during a council meeting on May 24th, 2022; failing to present the status of the town council report for the year; and tainting the image of technical staff as well as councillors by saying they are corrupt without providing any proof, among others.
Namale says that she ably perused the petition and established that it fulfils legal requirements in section 14 (1) (a-f) local government and the standard rules of procedure for local government councils before forwarding it to the CAO.
“Through this communication, I hereby submit the attached petition to your office for appropriate action as required by law,” Namale wrote. The CAO, Elizabeth Namanda, has yet to reply to the letter and was unavailable to comment on it.
She is expected to give Buwembo a chance to defend himself and convene a council meeting where the councillors can vote on the matter. The Luwero LC V Chairperson, Erastus Kibirango, says that earlier efforts to reconcile Buwembo, the councilors, and the town clerk didn’t yield results.
He explains that Buwembo no longer listens to advice from any local leader on allegations that they were compromised by technical staff.
Buwembo has remained defiant, saying that the petition will not succeed. He says that two out of the nine councillors that endorsed the petition have since withdrawn their signatures on the grounds that they were misled.
He says that the petition has no serious grounds and is only meant to intimidate him because of his fight against corruption among technical staff in the town council and district officials. Recently, Diana Rhoda Ndibalekera, the Luwero town council LC III vice-chairperson, resigned her seat, citing the poor working relationship with Buwembo.
Ndibalekera stepped down days after Buwembo suspended the finance secretary, Peter Ssewagudde, for alleged abuse of office. Buwembo is no longer seeing eye to-eye with the town clerk, Irene Nakamatte.
He has since taken her to the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authorities for alleged irregularities in service delivery at the town council.Buwembo is also feuding with Katikamu North Member of Parliament, Denes Sekabira, among other district officials.
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