Masindi council rejects approving political losers to the service commission

Masindi district councillors have rejected the approval of the appointment of two service commission appointees to serve on the service commission desks, citing political interference.

Kyetume Kasanga and Shamim Kasemire were earlier appointed by the district executive committee to replace the current serving service commissioners whose four-year tenure expired on January 30, 2026.

During the council proceedings held on March 17, a motion, tabled by the vice chairperson Kasim Kabagonza seeking the duo’s approval, was unsuccessful.

Kabagonza explained that the district executive committee had earlier nominated Kyetume and Kasimire.

“The district executive committee had appointed Kabagonza to replace the commission’s chairperson Benjamin Byarugaba and Swaib Kyamanywa with Kasimire as the representative of the urban council after the expiry of their four-year term of office on January 30, 2026,” he told the council.

However, different councillors punched holes in the appointments citing different grounds including a need to renew the tenure of previous officials, political interference since both had participated in the recent political races.

One of the councillors, Goodman Farouk objected to the motion on grounds of religion, calling for the appointment of a Muslim to head the commission on top of demanding an explanation as to why the terms of the two members had not been renewed.

Another councillor, Matthias Tende also objected to the approval of the two names on the grounds that they are politicians who lost in the recent elections. He feared that this would make them impartial while executing their duties.

Kyetume contested and lost in the recent NRM primaries for the district chairman’s seat whereas Shamim lost the woman MP seat on an independent ticket.

Denis Tumwine, instead, called for the renewal of terms of office for Byarugaba and Kyamanywa since the law allows it.

Councillor Simon Byaruhanga requested ample time to allow them to analyse the two appointees before approving them. This, he said, is to avoid challenges faced with the old commission.

Law

Ugandan Local Governments Act as amended, under Section 61, restricts active politicians and recent ex-politicians from serving as members of a District Service Commission (DSC) to ensure political neutrality in recruitment.

After the debate, speaker Moses Kiirya who spoke through his deputy, Godfrey Wobugabe, put the matter to a vote, asking the councillors to vote between approving the new names and renewing the term of office for the two commissioners.

The majority of the councillors voted in favour of renewing the terms of office for the two commissioners.

In an interview after the council, Cosmas Byaruhanga, Hoima district chairperson described the councillors’ resolution as “impact less” since the law mandates the district chairperson to present names for approval by the council.

Byaruhanga revealed that they would seek the guidance of the Ministry of Local Government on how to proceed with the matter.