Days after the Ministry of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Permanent Secretary Dr Amina Zawedde with immediate effect directed the defiant Ministry of Works and Transport spokesperson Suzan Kateike to report to her new station as the head of communication in the ministry of East Africa and Regional Cooperation another war between top bosses has exploded.
When he was campaigning in Eastern Uganda, the incumbent and also the National Resistance Movement (NRM) presidential candidate Yoweri Museveni directed Gen Edward Katumba Wamala to clean his ministry after establishing the poor work done in some of the ongoing road maintenance and construction in the region.
As the former Chief of Defence Forces is trying to sort-out laziness in the ministry, another fight has erupted between the former workers of the defunct Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) over the ministry’s juicy jobs.
The fight which placed the ministry staff on panic is between Eng. Samuel Liiki the Assistant Manager, Road Maintenance in the Ministry and Eng. Rachel Ngonzebwa who was recently appointed by the Public Service Commission as the new ministry of works transport’s Assistant Commissioner Road maintenance.
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In his suit filed at Civil Division of the High Court, Liiki insists that Ngonzebwa is not fit to occupy the office given to her on grounds that she lacks the minimum qualification required by the Public Service Commission when advertising the said position.
“That when the list of successful candidates to sit interviews for the post of Assistant Commissioner, Road Maintenance was shortlisted, I noticed the list included Eng. Rachel Ngonzebwa. That having worked with her UNRA, I was aware that she did not have a master’s degree in civil engineering but rather held a Master’s degree in Public Infrastructure Management,” Liiki stated in his affidavit to support his application for review.
He added that even though he tried to challenge Ngonzebwa’s appointment through tabling evidence from Engineering Registration Board (ERB), where he was seeking for guidance regarding the approval of Ngonzebwa’s Master’s degree in Public Infrastructure Management and Uganda National Council of Higher Education seeking clarification on the same, he was ignored and they proceeded to conclude the entire process and accept her.
The public service commission rubbished the application insisting that Ngonzebwa is suitable for the job.
They disclosed that after evaluating her with other shortlisted candidates, it was established that she is the best candidate on grounds that she is a practicing Engineer who attained a Bachelor’s degree of Engineering in Civil and Building Engineering from Kyambogo University in 2008 and a Master’s Degree of Public Infrastructure Management attained from Makerere University in 2016.
They added that she is a former staff member of the UNRA who was affected by the rationalization of government agencies where she worked as a Regional Manager and was a member of the Senior Management Team with experience of more than 20 years.
The Attorney General who is also a party in the suit explained that even though at first he advised through the deputy solicitor general to reassess the candidates basing on the letter from the National Council of Higher Education, he reversed his legal opinion after receiving another letter from some council reversing its earlier guidance.
“From the above analysis, I find that the minimum qualifications as advertised were strictly adhered to by the Public Service Commission. It is my finding that the Public Service Commission acted within its jurisdiction in appointing the Ngonzibwe to the position of Assistant Commissioner. I find that the Advert required a Master’s in Civil Engineering or related specialization,” Justice Simon Peter Kinobe ruled in his ruling holding Ngonzibwe’s appointment.
He explained that the bigger contention in the application was that Ngonzibwe had been given a job without the requisite academic credentials insisting that after analysing the evidence on record, facts and law he discovered that the application was filed without merit hence dismissed it.
He noted that the applicant failed to demonstrate the cardinal requirements of procedural irregularity, illegality and irrationality even though he denied to award costs because of the way the Public Service Commission handled the process of assessing the candidates applied for the said job
