The Kampala Capital City Authority speaker is set to earn Shillings 14,758,000 and Deputy Speaker Shillings 12,570,000 in allowances following new guidelines set by the Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs Minsa Kabanda.
Kabanda has also set allowances for the division speakers at Shillings10, 740, 000 and deputy division speakers Shillings 8,950,000.
"I would like to guide the implementation of this new structure of emoluments be urgently done to avoid unnecessary litigations," Kabanda noted in her letter to the KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka.
These political leaders have not received any pay since assuming office more than six months ago and their predecessors too were never paid.
The move comes after the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Public Service issued a certificate of financial implication to enable the Minister to determine the emoluments for the political leaders.
It was during the amendment of the KCCA 2020 that the offices of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker, and city executive committees were established.
While these offices were filled in early 2020, a question emerged on whether they should earn a salary or extra allowances because of their new roles since they already were entitled to allowances as Councilors.
The Solicitor General, Christopher Gashirabake at that time, guided that the executive secretaries and speakers are not new offices for purposes of remuneration because these are councilors appointed to the executive committee and division committees to discharge additional duties of the council.
He noted that section 77 of the KCCA Act refers to specific offices, which would therefore require an amendment of the law before the same section is used to determine remuneration for the executive committees.
Section 77 states that the Minister shall in consultation with the Minister responsible for Finance and the Minister responsible for the public service, determine the remuneration payable to the Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and councilors of the Authority and the mayor, deputy mayor, chairperson, and councilors of a lower urban council.
The then Minister for Kampala, Betty Amongi presented before the cabinet three proposals; to pay the political leaders as councilors, have the minister use her powers under section 77 of the KCCA Act to set remuneration structures, or have the law amended to provide for setting remuneration structures for the political leaders.
She said the meeting had guided that she sets remuneration structures for executive committee members. Therefore in December 2020, Amongi approved extra allowances of Shillings 7,632,500 for the authority executive members and Shillings 4,925,000 for division executive members but non for the speakers.
On July 30th, 2021, the Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago wrote to the Minister for Kampala insisted that she uses section 77 of the KCCA Act to set a remuneration structure for the speakers and their deputies such that they are not left behind while executive secretaries are being paid.