Matooke Republic sat down with Kampala City Council Authority Executive Director Jennifer Musisi for an exclusive tell-all interview. This is the first of a four-part series, that discusses her work, plans for the city and even private life.
Congratulations on your re-appointment …
I don’t know why Ugandans congratulate people on government jobs. It’s not a privilege. It’s a responsibility. I’m not one to celebrate appointments. I would rather celebrate when I have finished my assignment well and people are appreciative of what I have done. I think it is a Baganda thing where people think “Ogudde mu bintu (You have fallen in things)” … That you are suddenly going to get rich. Actually, you lose money by being in public service. You lose business, you lose your social engagements. It’s a sacrifice because you don’t have time do something else.
But your salary which is public knowledge isn’t losing money…
What is that public salary?
Something in the region of Shs40m.
Which is a total lie. I don’t know where people came up with that figure. I wish I got Shs46m but I don’t.
How much do you get?
My take home is about Shs21m. That is after tax, so it cannot be 46m with taxes inclusive. Because people are so used to saying I get 46m, maybe someone should give it to me.
But there are other benefits…
There are no benefits, that’s it. We don’t even get housing allowance.
Appearing before Parliament during the Handshake Probe you famously said that if you knew what you were getting into, you probably wouldn’t accept the job…
This is a very difficult job, it takes away your life in terms of time that you have to put in it, the stress on you as an individual, being in the public domain. Also, people personalise issues, you are carrying out an activity that is within the law, enforcing the law, like demolishing illegal buildings and people take it personally. But someone has got to implement the law. Uganda is not where it should be because the laws have not been implemented for a very long time.
Before I came to KCCA, I was doing different businesses. I no longer have time to participate in my business and my projects, so I have lost opportunities.
Which kind of businesses?
I’m a director in certain companies. I’m not able to divulge details because I have to protect the other partners.
The law of the jungle prevails in Uganda and you seem to be changing that at KCCA. What do you think it could take for Uganda to follow systems?
There are two parties to make things work. The leader and the led, but leadership sets the pace. People think that because they are your relatives or because they are rich, the law will not be applied. It takes leaders to implement these laws. You cannot make everybody happy as a leader otherwise you don’t make progress, you take three steps forward and four steps backward.
Things seem to be going right at KCCA. Is it your effort or you have been empowered to do your job? Your predecessors always complained of inadequate funding by government …
A bad workman blames his tools. People think KCCA has a lot of money that was suddenly thrown to us when I took over. For the first two years, we were getting exactly the same money as the previous management. The only thing is that we were not stealing it. You saw how we chased Utoda… They were supposed to collect over 350m a month but sometimes they would remit Shs8m, Shs20m and sometimes nothing at all. By the time we terminated their services, they had over Shs2b in arrears. In the first two weeks after terminating their services, we collected Shs1.5b…. Where was the rest going?
We closed the loopholes, streamlined systems… We established credibility and development partners have come on board. Auditor General has no issues with us, PPDA has no issues with us, accountability is proper.
In the second part of the interview, the KCCA boss tells us about the Jennifer Musisi at home, away from the public eye, and just a little bit about her husband Mr Musisi …. Click here to read