Ssemujju Says Cabinet Ministers Are Powerless

Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has lashed out at Ministers for not offering solutions to the country’s issues.

The outspoken MP expressed his disappointment during the Plenary on Tuesday afternoon as Parliament discussed the Kiteezi tragedy. On Saturday morning, a section of garbage in the Kiteezi landfill gave way, burying houses and other property.

Following the tragedy, the government and its responsible institutions have been put on the spot. By press time, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) had recovered 22 bodies from the garbage rubble. As Parliament discussed the national tragedy, Ssemujju expressed his frustration.

“I sympathize with colleagues who accept to be Ministers. The Minister for Kampala, when I asked her to respond, she was crying like any other Member of Parliament. We did this, we did this. I don’t know why you accept to be Ministers in a Government like this. And I am saying this deliberately, Mr. Speaker.” Nganda.

Ssemujju cited scenarios where Vice President Jessica Alupo and Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja traveled to Gulu to thank Gen Salim Saleh. According to Ssemujju, such actions show that the Cabinet Ministers are powerless. He wondered why they give so much respect to the President’s brother, who they are above in power structures.

Additionally, he blamed them for their role in creating disasters in the country. He warned against the tendency of having the President make all decisions in the country. Ssemujju also added that this tendency is why the Ministers seem pedestrian in Parliament.

“You have contributed to creating this disaster of one man taking every decision, that is why you are all here crying. Why don’t you convene a Cabinet meeting and make a decision? You come to Parliament to cry, so what do you want us to do?” – Ssemujju Nganda (Kira Municipality).

As the Kiteezi tragedy continues, the government had suggested transferring the landfilling of waste to Dundu, Mukono. However, Ssemujju expressed his reservations about this move.

“Kiteezi was one of the villages I represented in the 9th Parliament. A solution can’t be transferring that particular problem to Mukono. People who live in Kiteezi, because the waste you put there isn’t processed, it has attracted all the dogs in the world, all the flies. The trucks that carry garbage from Kampala, maybe they are supposed to be carrying firewood. They go dropping garbage everywhere. By the time these trucks leave Kiteezi, they have dropped about 10% along the way. Please find another way, maybe ask the President to use his chopper because we will not allow you to use our villages on your way to Mukono.” – Ibrahim Ssemujju (Kira Municipality).

Ssemujju also advised the government to find a sustainable solution for waste management. He cited the National Water and Sewerage Cooperation, which processes fecal matter into fertilizers. He implored the government to find a similar remedy for the waste and ditch landfilling.