By Stephen Otage
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has explained why it prevented two staff members in charge of the Kiteezi dumpsite from signing statements recorded by the Inspectorate of Government until today (August 12, 2024) when they can obtain legal assistance.
President Museveni issued a statement on Sunday, directing the Deputy Inspector General of Government, Anne Muhairwe, to swiftly investigate the circumstances surrounding the Kiteezi tragedy, which has claimed 18 lives so far.
In a telephone interview with KFM on Sunday, KCCA spokesperson Daniel NuweAbine said the two staff responsible for supervising the landfill were prevented from signing the statements because it was a weekend and legal officers were unavailable to provide guidance.
He explained that since the incident occurred during their KCCA duties, the authority’s legal team should offer support.
“I have heard that the IGG has issued directives to have me arrested for blocking the presidential directive to have our staff investigated to find out whether someone was sleeping on job when the incident happened. But we have said, we have no problem with having us investigated, but these are KCCA staff who were doing KCCA work and KCCA has a legal team which should guide them when they are being interrogated,” he said.
When asked about the interrogation time, he said investigators from the IGG spent two hours questioning staff at Kiteezi yesterday between midday and 2:00 pm.
The Inspectorate’s spokesperson, Mr. Ali Munira, confirmed the development but declined to provide details of the interrogation.
NuweAbine stated that they are awaiting guidance from their director of legal affairs today so their staff can sign defensible statements.
