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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | High Court Civil Division has dismissed an application in which Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA challenged a consent judgement which saw complainants awarded 3.4 billion Shillings.
KCCA ran to court last year challenging the manner in which eleven people were awarded Shillings 3.4 billion in December 2018 through a consent judgement without authorization by the management committee under the Executive Director as provided for in the KCCA Act.
The beneficiaries are Charles Nabimara, John Bosco Bampabwire, Godwin Gumisiriza, Justine Olal, Julius Tweheyo, Abel Ndoboli Mugalya, Joshua Bateeza, Caroline Benda Rukundo, Leonard Kakooza, Julius Bashaka and James Ssekatawa.
The consent judgement was a result of consolidated applications by the group against KCCA for failure to employ them despite going through the recruitment process by the Public Service Commission.
The applicants claimed that they were informed that they had passed the interviews and should await posting instructions. However, the applicants said they wouldn’t be employed due to budgetary constraints. This prompted the applicants to run to court arguing that government provides funding by the time a job is advertised.
However, Charles Ouma, the then Director Legal Affairs at KCCA and Richard Lule, the Director Human Resource entered a consent with the applicants which saw them get their jobs. Court also directed KCCA to pay the applicants their salary arrears and costs of the suit to the tune of 3.4 billion Shillings. Court issued an order and the money was taken off the KCCA bank account.
In his judgement issued on Wednesday morning, Justice Musa Ssekaana said that there was nothing illegal about the consent judgement. Justice Ssekaana says failure by KCCA to give employment to the respondents was the very reason that they conceded to the respondent’s application and have since granted them employment.
Ssekaana also notes that the argument that management didn’t consent to the judgement is an internal matter saying there is no way any person dealing with the institution would ascertain whether Ouma and Lule were not mandated to sign on behalf of the authority.
He said it is absurd the applicant’s current employers are trying to disown a consent judgement from their own offices presented to court.
According to the 2018 KCCA Public Accounts Committee report; the Authority has accumulated Shillings 49.7 billion in legal costs.
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