Kitagwenda District Councilors boycott Council sitting over non-payment of allowances.
Kitagwenda district councilors have refused to convene a planning council meeting over non-payment of their ex-gratia and committee allowances.
The decision followed a closed meeting between the councilors and Kitagwenda chief administrative officer (CAO) Richard Ssebandeka at the district offices on Monday.
The boycott which was announced around 1pm prompted an emergency meeting of the district top leadership, including the CAO, LC V Chairman Ismail Mushemeza, speaker James Baguma, DPC Henry Mugarura, the RDC and DISO.
After the meeting that lasted about an hour, Mushemeza said the money was already on the district general account but they have no rights to access the money.
Although the councilors refused to discuss the matter with the media, sources indicate that the councilors were protesting non-payment of their ex-gratia and sitting allowances for attending committee meetings and council and committees on empty stomachs.
The other grievance, the source said, was lack of implementation of a number of council resolutions, including failure to provide council a list of all district employees to weed out ghost workers.
Councillors are entitled to a pay of UGX 175,000 each per month as ex-gratia while their council and committee sitting allowance is got from 20 percent of local revenue collection in the district.
Meanwhile Kitahwenda CAO, Richard Sssebandeke, explained that the issue of delayed ex-gratia is a national challenge that is being experienced by other districts across the country, adding that the ministries concerned are working to address it.
On the way forward, district speaker, James Baguma said the leadership has agreed to hold the aborted council meeting on September 29.
