SPEECH BY DOROTHY KISAKA

THE INCOMING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

AT THE HANDOVER CEREMONY AT CITY HALL
30TH JULY 2020
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The Honorable Minister of Kampala Capital City and

Metropolitan Affairs, Ms. Amongi Betty Ongom (MP)
The Head of Public Service, Mr. John Mitala
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Public Service
Secretary Office of the President
The Resident District Commissioner
The Deputy Resident Commissioners
Your Worship the Lord Mayor of Kampala City, Hajji
Erias Lukwago
The Deputy Lord Mayor of Kampala City
KCCA Speaker
Division Mayors
KCCA Deputy Speaker
Hon Members of the Council,
Hon Members of the Division Councils

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The Outgoing Executive Director, Eng Andrew
Kitaka
The KCCA Management Team
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

I greet you Citizens of the great Kampala City!

It gives me great joy to speak at this auspicious
occasion where I have taken Oath and pledged to
serve Kampala City and also received the mantle of
leadership from my predecessor.

Let me begin by expressing my thanks to His

Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda
for the trust, he has conferred upon me to serve at
the helm of Kampala Capital City Authority as
Executive Director. I am greatly honored by this
appointment and I embrace the opportunity to serve
with great gratitude and humility.

I affirm my readiness to serve the people of Uganda

and develop the Capital City of our beautiful
Country. I pledge to commit my energies and my
daily work to deliver on the City Vision; a Vibrant,
Attractive and Sustainable City. So help me Lord!
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Let me also thank His Excellency the President of
the Republic of Uganda for identifying my colleagues
Engineer David Luyimbazi Ssali, the Deputy
Executive Director and Ms Grace Akullo, the
Director Administration and Human Resource as
part of this team. I congratulate you my colleagues
on this elevation to serve the Capital City. Together
we shall fulfill the mission of delivering quality
services to Kampala City.

In a special way I want to express my gratitude to

the Rt. Hon. Prime Minister for his great leadership,
mentorship and support for the years I have served
at OPM. OPM has been the boot camp that has
provided me the nurture and skilling needed for this
next level of service. I am grateful for the years of
training and skilling.

Every promotion in Public Service is a promotion to

greater service. It calls for sacrifice, for diligence and
a lot of hard work. We will yoke with the KCCA
Political and Technical Leadership so that we can

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effectively deliver quality services to the citizens of
Uganda.

Kampala City is a home to all Ugandans. Kampala

City is a home to millions of City dwellers from
different walks of life, of different languages, and of
different political leanings. But despite our diversity,
the aspiration is one; the people of Uganda want a
vibrant and attractive City. They want a City that
they can proudly call their home.

I congratulate and celebrate our predecessors for

articulating the vision and the foundational work
they have done in the Capital City since 2011. Laws
have been established; systems and governance
structures have been established. I thank you Hon
Minister and your predecessors for providing
guidance in this endeavor since inception. I thank
Your Worship the Lord Mayor and the whole Council
for the great work you have done in this regard as
iron sharpens iron in your Council deliberations. I
thank you Eng. Andrew Kitaka and the Management
Team, for the service you have rendered to Kampala
especially in the last twenty months.

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We will now together build on the foundation laid as
we aspire to scale new heights to meet the
aspirations of the people of Uganda. There is no
doubt that the strong legacy established by my
predecessor Dr Jennifer Semakula Musisi,
will provide a solid foundation for the greater works
yet to come.

Hon Minister, we are ready and we are eager to

serve. I am looking forward to meeting the KCCA
Management and staff in our meetings. I have
identified seven areas regarding organizational
culture that cut across all directorates, which we
shall inculcate in our work for the effective execution
of our mandate. The goals of the Technical Team are
clearly spelled out in the Strategic Plan but the
philosophy of our operations is as follows: -

1. We shall lead from the front and lead by

example. We shall do what we say and avoid
duplicity.

2. We must fast track development of the City and

achieve the goals set out in the Strategic Plan.

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3. We shall pursue a participatory approach with
the Citizens of Uganda to nurture the stunning
beauty of Kampala City. The staff cannot do it
alone. Everyone ought to participate in
beautifying his or her neighborhood. It is
imperative that we work together to create a
City environment that City dwellers and the
whole of Uganda will be proud of.

4. We shall work towards minimizing interruptions

to development by building bridges that
promote peace across the many stakeholders.
We cannot develop the City in the midst of
unending intentional interruptions. We will
promote a culture that says ‘we are bigger
than the differences that divide us’. The
people of Kampala deserve that. We can all win.

5. We shall serve all Kampala in its diversity and

ensure that they are well catered for with basic
amenities both in dwelling and trading spaces.
Kampala is a melting point for the 56 tribes of
Uganda and this diversity must be respected
and provided for.

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 6. We shall promote the rich inherited values
bequeathed by our ancestors; that is good
neighborliness, hard work, shared wealth,
integrity and honesty so that we build strong
communities of City dwellers. Both the inner
infrastructure and outer infrastructure are
important.
7. We shall all pledge to be good stewards of what
Uganda has entrusted to us as a Technical
Team. We shall not yoke with detractors of
development or those who steal public property,
or promote divisions that deter development, or
eat the bread of laziness, or mistreat City
dwellers, or in any way break the law and deter
the good work of developing Uganda. We shall
be trustworthy stewards of this great trust of
Kampala City. Hon Minister, we know you shall
hold us accountable.

We begin our tour of service at City Hall at a time

when we are facing a peculiar war, the COVID-19
pandemic. For the last four months we have
witnessed the citizens of Uganda put on a brave face
to fight this pandemic. Our first concern in Kampala
is safety for all. I want to thank our teams for the
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commendable work you are doing to ensure that
community infections are minimized.

While we nurse our sick and mourn our dead, let us

not be negligent in taking basic precautions to avoid
infection. This pandemic provides us City dwellers
an opportunity to improve on City sanitation.

As I conclude, I wish to take this opportunity to

thank you Hon Minister for all your endeavors in
ensuring that we settle in smoothly. Thank you for
organizing the orientation and fast tracking the
processes to enable us join our colleagues at City
Hall.

I wish to thank the Head of Public Service, Mr. John

Mitala for the role you have played today in ensuring
that we recognize the magnitude of the work ahead
of us.

I thank Your Worship the Lord Mayor and the entire

Council, and the Division Councils for warmly
welcoming us and we look forward to a cordial
working relationship

I thank you Eng. Andrew Kitaka, and the KCCA

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Management Team for graciously receiving us in a
style that observes the SOPs. I particularly thank
you for a smooth handover and for the detailed
handover brief. I have read it and I look forward to
internalizing it.

Allow me to leave you with a scripture from Judeo

Christianity attributed to Jesus Christ in the book of
Matthew 17:20. It is a one sentence that says:
‘If you have faith, nothing shall be impossible to
you’

For God and My Country

I thank you