Derrick Ampereza
The scheduled meeting of the Rukungiri municipality social service committee on Thursday aborted due to a failure to meet the required attendance threshold.
The meeting was supposed to commence at 9:00 a.m., with Love Turinawe, the current committee chairperson and Councilor representing Karangaro ward, ready to lead the session. However, other committee members were conspicuously absent.
After a few minutes, Lovence Kamabati, a committee member representing elderly women in the municipal council, arrived, bringing the total attendance to two out of the necessary seven members for the committee to proceed with its deliberations.
In response to the situation, Rukungiri municipality speaker Constance Tumusiime explained that this issue falls within the jurisdiction of the council and would be addressed, especially during their session scheduled for October 27, 2023.
Kenneth Mushabe, a councilor representing Rwetondo ward and a member of the social services committee, who did not attend the meeting, expressed his unwillingness to participate in any committee meeting until their concerns are resolved, particularly regarding the appointment of Love Turinawe as the committee chairperson.
The committee members are alleging that Rukungiri municipality mayor Charles Makuru and municipal Speaker Constance Tumusiime were involved in appointing Love Turinawe as the new committee chairperson without their knowledge. They are now requesting the town clerk, as a technical expert, to intervene and mediate the situation.
This incident marks the fourth disruption of social services committee meetings, with previous disruptions occurring on August 10 and 24, 2023. This ongoing turmoil is putting the council’s authority in jeopardy.
Several municipal councilors, who preferred to remain anonymous, believe that the confusion can be attributed to the actions of Municipal Speaker Constance Tumusiime, who removed and suspended Vian Keijukuru, the former committee chairperson, and another committee member, Innocent Rubarondesa, without valid reasons.
