Joel Ssenyonyi, the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Parliament, has urged the government to solve the problem of Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) casual laborers who were protesting outside Parliament on Monday, February 26, 2024, due to delayed wage payments.
He made these remarks on Thursday, February 29, 2024, during a plenary session in parliament.
Ssenyonyi said the ongoing protest was an urgent issue the legislators needed to deal with, urging the government to give an update on the issue.
“I would like to ask the speaker of parliament and government officials to visit those individuals and offer them a response. Hundreds of KCCA temporary workers are demonstrating outside the Parliament gate. They make a pitiful UGX 4,000 a day, and they haven’t been paid in over six months. The amount due is already insufficient, and it is not being paid,” Ssenyonyi said.
However, Ssenyonyi said he was content with the actions of the police for exercising restraint and tolerating peaceful protests outside the parliament premises.
Prior to this, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Anita Among, asked the leadership of KCCA to attend to the concerns of casual laborers, referring to Article 40(1)(b) of the Constitution, which provides for equal payment for equal work without discrimination.
“People cannot work without being paid; how are their families being looked after? We want those people to be paid because we know money has always been released for wages,” Among said.
This call comes after KCCA casual laborers angrily stormed the parliament premises with placards and loud resentful chants, expressing their discontentment with the KCCA leadership for not paying their wages in time.
