Finance ministry releases over sh13b to pay striking KCCA workers — Kabanda
“By June 30, 2024, KCCA will have paid all the workers to zero balance and a new formalized system of hiring road sweepers shall be in place," said Kabanda.
The Minister for Kampala Capital and Metropolitan Affairs Hajjat Minsa Kabanda assuring KCCA workers on released money for casual workers salary arrears (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
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___________________ Vehicles along Queens Way negotiating their way in the garbage that was thrown by angry casual workers following ongoing strike (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba) The Minister for Kampala Hajjat Minsa Kabanda and the KCCA Deputy Executive Director Eng. David Luyimbazi showing evidence of received money printouts on Thursday in (Photo by Isaac Nuwagaba)
The finance ministry has released sh13.69 billion to pay striking workers of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), according to Minsa Kabanda, the Minister for Kampala Capital and Metropolitan Affairs.
The release of the funds comes after a month-long strike by KCCA workers, who were demanding payment of their salary arrears for over five months and National Social Security Fund (NSSF) remittance benefits yet to reflect on their accounts.
“For some time now, KCCA workers have had on and off strikes and demonstrations all aimed at demanding payments of their dues, which some claim have taken over five months. The latest of these strikes was yesterday June 5, 2024,” she said.
Kabanda gave the pronouncement after an impromptu KCCA leadership meeting that convened on Thursday at the Office of the President Building in Kampala following a series of strikes where garbage was being picked from KCCA garbage skips and dumped on the road as a show of disgruntlement.
“This money is meant for clearing outstanding dues and the payment process has started and will be finally effected by close of day on June 13, 2024,” said Kabanda.
Behind closed doors, she said, they resolved to conduct a head count of all the workers involved in road sweeping and drainage desilting to weed out all the ghost workers who have been claiming salaries at KCCA.
“By June 30, 2024, KCCA will have paid all the workers to zero balance and a new formalised system of hiring road sweepers shall be put in place," said Kabanda.
According to her, the headcount is expected to see 4,400 KCCA casual workers paid their arrears from both Seven Hills Cleaning company and those from SACCOs that was once registered by the five divisions of Kampala: Central, Kawempe, Rubaga, Makindye, and Nakawa.
The strike had brought services in the city to a standstill, with garbage thrown on roads and at the KCCA city hall entrance gate in protest. Uncollected waste littered the streets during this time.
The release of the funds comes as a relief to the residents of Kampala who have been affected by the strike. Many businesses had been forced to close and the city's infrastructure bore the brunt of lack of maintenance.
The KCCA workers had been demanding payment of their salary arrears and other benefits that had been owed to them. The strike had been called off earlier in the week after the finance ministry agreed to release the funds.
The release of the funds is seen as a positive development in addressing the challenges facing the KCCA. The authority has been facing financial challenges, which have affected its ability to pay its workers and provide basic services to the city's residents.
According to the KCCA deputy executive director, Eng. David Luyimbazi, the issue of poor garbage collection has become a major concern, with piles of waste spending days and weeks around people’s shops, market stalls, and residential homes without being collected.
As a result, this has threatened public health, with pollution affecting city dwellers who must live with piles of trash and litter rotting along roads, on the streets, settlement collection centres, public transport parks, and markets.
With the coming of Seven Hills in the picture last year, hopes of keeping ‘Kampala Clean’ were high after hundreds of old casual workers were laid off with the expiry of their unrenewed contracts in a new structure by the KCCA administration promoting the ‘Smart City’ campaign.
Currently, the KCCA has a workforce of over 3000 street cleaners, with only 30 garbage-collecting trucks for 100 parishes in the city and three contracted waste-collecting private companies.