The Parliamentary Committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities, and State Enterprises (COSASE) has expressed outrage following revelations that two weighbridges from the Kiteezi landfill were allegedly stolen and sold to Rwanda by employees of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) during the 2011/2012 financial year.
The shocking disclosure was made by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago during the committee’s review of the Auditor General’s report for the 2023/2024 financial year, which flagged numerous inefficiencies in KCCA’s waste management operations, among them, a lack of adequate equipment and staff.
In her response, KCCA Executive Director Sharifah Buzeeki acknowledged the operational challenges and revealed that the authority currently spends 3.7 billion shillings annually on hiring garbage collection equipment.
She noted that acquiring brand-new equipment would cost an estimated 4.5 billion shillings, raising questions about KCCA’s long-term strategy.
Committee Chairperson Medard Lubega Sseggona questioned why KCCA has not considered direct procurement of its own equipment instead of spending heavily on rentals.
In response, Lord Mayor Lukwago cautioned that fears of theft still linger, citing the case of the two stolen weighbridges at Kiteezi as a deterrent.
Sseggona emphasized the gravity of the Auditor General’s findings, noting that one of the weighbridges stolen was brand new and later replaced with a faulty, non-functional unit.
He, along with other MPs, demanded answers regarding who was responsible for the theft and why no names had been made public more than a decade after the incident.
In his clarification, Lukwago stated that KCCA was solely in charge of the weighbridges at the time of the theft, and the matter had been referred to the Authority’s Legal Directorate for further action.
Appearing before the committee, KCCA Director of Legal Affairs Frank Rusa confirmed that investigations are ongoing, but did not provide timelines for the conclusion of the probe or any pending disciplinary measures.
The committee is expected to continue pressing KCCA for accountability and further details on how public assets of such significance could be stolen and trafficked across borders without detection or prosecution.
By Ben Musanje
5th Aug 2025
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