Renegade Buikwe RDC suspended – ChimpReports

Minister for the Presidency, Milly Babalanda, has removed the errant Buikwe Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Hajat Hawa Namugenyi Ndege, from service over her bitter dispute with Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President, Diana Mutasingwa.

“Following a heated exchange of words between the RDC, Buikwe and the Minister of State in the Office of the Vice President, which sparked a huge public debate and as a result of which the Office of the President was deeply discredited, I wish to make the following statement on this matter: The RDC Buikwe, Mrs. Hawa Namugenyi Ndege, should be recalled to headquarters pending her redeployment,” Babalanda’s letter to the Secretary to the Office of the President, Yunus Kakande, reads.

Namugenyi’s suspension follows the incidents on June 13, when she clashed with Mutasingwa over an illegal eviction in Buikwe District, which he represents as a Member of Parliament.

Namugenyi assembled a group of security forces, including military and police officers and self-appointed bailiffs, to carry out the demolition of a residence belonging to Simon Herbart Alideki.

Earlier, Mr Alideki and his sister Stella Nambi filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging what they considered to be the “unfair” division of their late father’s property by their half-siblings.

Despite an injunction, Namugenyi carried out the eviction.

“I am ordering this evacuation. Who will stop it?” Namugenyi said.

Mutasingwa intervened to stop the action. She came straight to me and demanded to see the eviction order and the District Security Committee minutes authorising the eviction.

When asked, Namugenyi could not produce an eviction order or the minutes of the District Security Committee relating to the eviction.

“I call on Minister (for the Presidency Milly) Babalanda. What nonsense is this? You were sent to represent the President but instead you are misrepresenting him. What is making it so difficult for you to wait for the court decision to implement the eviction? Who paid you?” Mutasingwa complained.

In a letter to Kakande, Minister Babalanda also directed that a detailed report be prepared on the matter, adding that after the detailed report is completed, the President will be consulted for a final decision on the matter.

As an interim measure, Babalanda has ordered that Buikwe’s deputy RDC take over the management of the RDC office.