Legislators on Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have questioned the existence of the Ministry of Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, yet the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) is in place.

The development was confirmed during a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs on May 23, 2024, who appeared before the Committee to respond to the queries raised in the December 2023 Auditor General’s report.

The MPs argued that the funds being used to run the Kampala Ministry would instead go towards improving services within the city and other surrounding areas.

Bataringaya Basil Bata, the MP of Kashari North, decried the duplication of roles between the Ministry of Kampala, KCCA, and the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development.

“The Accounting Officer should indicate to us, when she is implementing, is there justification for this ministry, versus given the environment she is operating in that has other body corporate entities, that plan and put into effect other plans? What is their mandate versus that of these other entities? It will guide us to know whether the funds they are accounting for are put to good use and there is value for money,” Bataringaya asked.

Kassanda North MP Patrick Nsamba backed Bataringaya, saying that he wanted to be convinced of how all the entities in Kampala help in the development of the country.

“In terms of mandate, wouldn’t we be duplicating when we have a Ministry of Urban Development? We have the Kampala Capital City Authority, a full entity; do we really need this ministry? I really wanted to gain confidence about the relevance of this ministry in the process of developing this country,” Nsamba remarked.

In response, the Ministry of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan Affairs Undersecretary Monica Edemachu Ejua defended the existence of the Ministry alongside that of the Kampala Capital City Authority, saying the Ministry is meant to supervise and offer guidance to the management of the city and other surrounding areas.

She added that while KCCA comes up with subsidiary laws like ordinances and by-laws, the Ministry ensures that the implementation carried out by KCCA is done within the existing framework, and they carry out their duties as expected in order to coordinate the planning functions of all nine entities within the Kampala Metropolitan Region.

“The entities in the Metropolitan have been planning in silos; you will find KCCA developing a road just stopping at its boundary, but now the Ministry comes up to bring these nine entities together to avoid planning in silos, such that if we are looking at a physical plan, we are looking at the entire metropolitan area as this place is getting heavily urbanized. The Ministry brings together all these entities to ensure that development is done, not in silos but in a coordinated manner,” Edemachu explained.

Edemachu further said that Uganda’s capital is growing and urbanizing at a rapid rate, where the population is about 5 million people, but the government is looking at this population increasing by 2040 to about 11 million people, which calls for the need to plan effectively.

“If we don’t plan for this region, then it is a serious time bomb, having in mind that the biggest percentage of the GDP, over 60%, is from this region, and there are so many challenges affecting this region, so our mandate is gearing around addressing these issues. We work with the Ministry of Land and Urban Development at the strategic level, but when it comes to coordinating and making sure that the plans are implemented in line with the guidelines, then that is where the Kampala Ministry comes in, so there is no duplication of these mandates in anyway,” she said.

The Ministry of Kampala continues to say that it focuses on supervising and coordinating KCCA’s activities and ensuring alignment with the established framework, while KCCA is responsible for the direct operations and governance of Kampala as the legal entity established for this purpose.

Leadership authorities in Kampala range from Cabinet Minister of Kampala Capital City Authority Hon. Hajjat Minsa Kabanda, Minister of State for Kampala Capital City Authority Hon. Kyofatogabye Kabuye, Lord Mayor of Kampala Erias Lukwago and his deputy, Kampala Authority Council Speaker and the deputy, and the Executive Director of KCCA Dorothy Kisaka.