ON SPOT! Whistle blower raises Red flag over KCCA jobs

By Our Reporters

Clearly disgruntled, a whistle blower has petitioned the IGG Beti Kamya contesting what he/she calls discrepancies that played out in the Public Service-spearheaded recruitment for the officer and manager-level positions at Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).

In a four page dossier, the whistle blower anonymously points out what he/she alleges to have gone wrong invalidating the entire recruitment process.

The background to all this is that in the first half of last year 2021, a number of KCCA temporary employees had their contracts come to an end prompting the authorities at City Hall to notify the President who prompted the Public Service to carry out a comprehensive recruitment exercise aimed at filling all vacant positions at KCCA. The new recruits are supposed to be permanent and pensionable except that the concerned authorities have been unable to issue appointment letters for the successful applicants having been officially notified by Beti Kamya that the IG is still inquiring into the whistleblower claims.

The job advert went out in May and 7th June was the deadline for receiving applications. By December 2021, the Public Service was supposed to have completed everything. The whistle blower faults the KCCA HR Director Grace Akullo for not doing enough to help, facilitate or enable her own KCCA temporary staff to compete and get recruited into the permanent and pensionable jobs that were advertised. That she deprived many of them of access to adequate information that they required to competitively process their applications. That the Director HR, who previously worked at Public Service, didn’t involve her Directorate staffers enough into the recruitment process and that this disadvantaged many KCCA temporary staff who naturally desired to compete for the Public Service jobs.

That some of the insiders doing temporary jobs at KCCA were clandestinely permitted to do promotional interviews which resulted in their confirmation into the jobs they were already holding yet the same preferential treatment was denied to others. The whistle blower says that this unequal treatment violated Article 21 of the Constitution which prohibits discrimination. That Public Service was inconsistent in the way it communicated interview dates to the different job applicants. That some got the information earlier and had a longer preparation time than others who were notified at shorter notice. That the HR Director acted inappropriately when she failed to adequately involve KCCA line Directors so that they make some input to determine the requirements for the key positions whose successful applicants are in the end supposed to be deployed to work under their supervision.

The whistle blower also implores the IGG to scrutinize the profiles of some of the members of the recruitment/shortlisting panels to ascertain their experience, seniority and capability to assess applicants who in some cases were more senior and more qualified than them. That those who participated in the shortlisting exercise were less experienced than the applicants whose fate they were deployed to determine. That having accumulated experience working for both KCCA and Public Service, Director Akullo had a huge influence on the collective decisions that were taken at the end of the day.

That some of the applicants were approached by certain power brokers and subsequently bragged to have parted with between Shs5m and Shs15m which amplified their chances. The whistle blower asserts that this is a very serious allegation whose authenticity the IGG must inquire into to preserve the integrity of the entire recruitment process. That some successful applicants have since bragged to have accessed some of the aptitude questions prior, claims the Public Service officially dismisses as false and untrue.

The whistle blower also demands that the IGG inquires into the circumstances under which it happened that some of the members sitting on Public Service recruitment panels were constituted without any representation from KCCA who should have guided on the most prudent decision-making regarding who is the most suitable applicant for which position. That at some point during the recruitment process the required qualifications, job descriptions, experience and competences were altered, something that advantaged some applicants while disadvantaging others. “There is need to match up the recommended candidates with the submitted job descriptions to note this irregularity,” the whistle blower tips the IGG Beti Kamya whose posting has resulted into renewed public trust and media interest in the Inspectorate. That the IGG must also inquire into claims that some applicants attempted to beat the system by smuggling in mercenaries to answer the aptitude questions for them. That some candidates demanded and were permitted to occupy certain specific sitting positions during the interviews, something the whistle blower claims unduly advantaged them.

The whistle blower names two manager positions which he/she claims had the relevant minutes relating to them altered several times in order to fix certain applicants. “In one instance, the interview panel recommended a candidate and the final minutes came up with another candidate’s name,” the whistle blower states. That there were attempts to delete some of the qualifications the unwanted applicants disclosed to possess in order to make them less competitive and unqualified for the positions they applied for.

The petition further alleges that, “Over one hundred interested candidates applied for the Security and Enforcement slot including Internal Staffs Supervising at the Divisions but were— without justifiable reasons, even when they had all the qualifications—kicked out at preliminary stages.”

Named in the impropriety is Senior Commissioner of Police Laban Muhabwe, who quit the force in search for Political office as LC5 Chairperson Sheema District, a feat that didn’t yield success.

The petition alleges that Mr. Laban was among the six shortlisted individuals for the KCCA top Security job in a process that—up to date—has never been explained.

In the letter, it is also alleged that Laban Muhabwe was named in several negative reports before quitting the Police force.”

Also named in the petition is Captain Ruhweju Kenneth the Acting Head of Security at KCCA who is accused of using his office to exert an iron hand onto his subordinates and arch-enemies.

“A closer look at the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders under Section A-c Paragraph 5, provides that a person who will not make “10 years” before reaching mandatory retirement age is ineligible for employment in the Public Service. (i.e. “A Public Officer shall not be appointed to a pensionable office if at the day of his or her appointment will not complete 10 years qualifying service before reaching mandatory retirement age’),” the petition reads in part.

According to the petition, most of the 6 shortlisted candidates for the job have less than 5 years left to reach their mandatory retirement age.

“Tribal sentiments and gender biases have also been noted in the recruitment which undermines the integrity of such a revered MDA,” concludes the whistle blower whose petition and the subsequent IGG inquiry has since made everyone’s hands tied regarding how to move forward with the recruitment process at whose conclusion the President must weigh in by appointing the 10 KCCA Directors and their respective Deputies who number 16 in total. What remains unclear is what action the IGG and other petitioned bodies will take. With exception of Grace Akullo and a few others, those occupying these Director positions are currently in acting capacity.