It is almost two months since the heap of garbage in Kiteezi buried people and left many homeless. As usual, the Kampala city Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has been everywhere playing blame games, castigating the technical team and the president.
Many Ugandans have weighed in and advised Lukwago to take responsibility and share the blame alongside other KCCA officials.
Lukwago has proved to be a political leader who wants to take credit for good things but also attributes the wrongs to others.
Any credible leader would take credit for both the good and bad deeds and pave a way forward to correct the wrongs.
In the spirit of democracy, Lukwago should resign from office, and now that the KCCA top officials have been fired by the President, Lukwago should honorably step aside to pave the way for a more aggressive leader to deliver Kampala.
Lukwago plays politics of hypocritical sentimentalism aimed at sympathy-seeking and populism. There is no way he can isolate and distance himself from the Kiteezi disaster, and he should have resigned by now.
Resigning in Uganda is something rare; officials first wait to be fired. The KCCA officers who were fired by President Museveni over the Kiteezi disaster shouldn’t have waited for the president to decide; they should have resigned first. What is Lukwago still waiting for?
Severally, Lukwago’s hypocrisy and politics of deception have made him attribute his non-performance to the fact that his hands are tied and that KCC was captured by President Museveni.
On the contrary, the same Lukwago who claims to be incapacitated has never stepped down; he instead stands in every election vying for the same seat.
The truth is Lukwago is a non-performer historically and has never had time to do what he is supposed to do but instead spends all his time politicking and causing chaos in any political parties he has joined in his political nomadism.
As a merchant of chaos, Lukwago confused the Democratic Party, Forum for Democratic Change, Kampala City Council, and many more.
If he indeed concedes that he has not performed, why does he keep contesting for the same office? It is time for Lukwago to accept that he has failed in his duties and he should step down to give a chance to others to try their best.
Service delivery is not a sole obligation of technical people and the regime in power but a collective responsibility by all stakeholders, including the lord mayor.
The Kiteezi debacle was enough for Lukwago to step down, but one wonders what he is still doing in office. It is time for Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago to vacate the office or wait for the people of Kampala to act.