JINJA I URN: The Mayor of Jinja City, Abdul Afiz Nagaya, and city councilors on Friday failed to agree on nominees for the city executive committee, forcing the adjournment of the inaugural council sitting. The day began with a colorful swearing-in ceremony held at the Jinja City Hall mayor’s gardens, presided over by Jinja Chief Magistrate Phiona Angura.
After the oaths were taken, the leaders proceeded to the council chambers for their maiden council sitting, also presided over by Chief Magistrate Angura.
Councilors unanimously elected Juma Ssozi, the Councilor representing persons with disabilities (PWDs), as the substantive Speaker of Jinja City Council after he went through unopposed. Ssozi later presided over the election of the deputy speaker, where NRM’s Caroline Namukenze defeated National Unity Platform (NUP) candidate Lovisa Nakiirya by nine votes to five.
With the Council leadership in place, procedural rules required Mayor Nagaya to nominate members of the four-person executive committee. Nagaya said he would have preferred to appoint all councilors to leadership positions, but was constrained by the limited number of available slots.
He nominated Mariam Nalumansi, the Woman Councilor representing Jinja South Division, as Deputy Mayor; Irene Nakato of NUP, representing Jinja South Division East, as Secretary for Social Services; Shakira Kitimbo, the female youth councilor elected as an independent, as Secretary for Works and Environment; and Annet Tusubira, the female councilor representing Jinja North East Division, as Secretary for Finance.
However, when Speaker Ssozi asked councilors to second the nominees, the majority remained silent.
The Workers’ Male Councilor, Joshua Bagoole, proposed that the nominees first present their academic credentials, arguing that executive committee members must be capable of interpreting technical documents prepared by city staff.
His proposal was seconded by Ivan Kameze, the directly elected councilor for Jinja North Division, who argued that Jinja, as one of Uganda’s major urban centers, required competent and literate leaders to effectively plan for the city.
In response, City Town Clerk Geoffrey Kisseka advised the council that academic qualifications were not a legal requirement for the nominees and urged members to approve the appointments individually.
However, some councilors insisted on verifying the qualifications of the deputy mayor, arguing that the office holder would occasionally oversee council business in the mayor’s absence. The disagreement prompted Speaker Ssozi to suspend the sitting for 30 minutes to allow Mayor Nagaya to hold a closed-door meeting with dissenting councilors.
The discussions failed to produce a consensus, with some councilors storming out of the mayor’s office before the meeting ended. When the council reconvened, Speaker Ssozi adjourned the sitting to a later date, when discussions on the formation of the executive committee are expected to resume.
Some city residents described the standoff as an early sign of possible political divisions within the new council. However, Mayor Nagaya maintained that the situation remained under control and described the differing opinions as constructive criticism aimed at improving service delivery in the city.
