The newly sworn-in Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) executive director, Hajat Sharifa Buzeki has promised to solve the problem of traffic jams in the city through digitalizing public transport.
After taking the oath and assuming office on Wednesday, Buzeki acknowledged that the city is currently not motorable and that people spend a lot of time travelling within the city, which consumes valuable working time.
She added that during her tenure, she will optimize studies to inform improvements in traffic flow so that the city’s roads are more motorable. She also pledged to promote waste-to-energy solutions and conduct education campaigns to encourage people to change their ways of managing waste in the city.
On the issue of urban planning, Buzeki said that she plans to strengthen the urban planning directorate and also improve the turnaround time for responding to requests. Before her arrival, people would take a lot of time to acquire building permits at KCCA, which the new ED says must change.
On the issue of corruption, which is one of the major problems at KCCA, she said that they plan to leverage technology to enhance efficiency and minimize physical interaction with service seekers by automating all processes at the authority.
Emanuel Sserunjogi, mayor of Kawempe Division, said that the new executive director may not be able to change anything in Kampala unless there is devolution of power, where the division authorities can work on their issues since they are the same.
Kampala lord mayor, Erias Lukwago, expressed concern about corporate governance at the authority, saying that there is no chain of command at KCCA, which hinders work at the institution.
He added that there are too many power centres operating in silos, which has bred confusion and paralysis at KCCA. Lukwago said that the new ED may not be able to cause significant changes in the institution while the KCCA budget remains small.
About Buzeki
Buzeki is a seasoned human resource practitioner with diverse professional experience in both local and central government settings.
She brings over 13 years of expertise in human resource management, human resource auditing, institutional development, inspection, supervisory regimes, managing for results, and performance management.
Sharifah holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and Management, a postgraduate diploma in Human Resource Management, and a bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU). Additionally, she attended numerous skills-enhancing courses and earned certificates in conflict management, leadership and change management, monitoring and evaluation, training of trainers, and facilitation skills, among others.
Most democratic and civilized urban centers world wide these days citizens vote in their urban leadership. And when these leaders-elect are unable to come together with the citizens to develop what they desire, they remove them and go on to elect new leaders that are able to serve them better! One wonders why Uganda as a country or Kampala as an international city are the exception?