Gicumbi mayor resigns

GICUMBI Mayor, Bonane Nyangezi,, has resigned citing personal reasons. Nyangenzi announced his resignation on Monday evening in a meeting which had brought together district officials.

Wednesday, June 06, 2012
BOWED OUT: Bonane Nyangezi.

GICUMBI Mayor, Bonane Nyangezi,, has resigned citing personal reasons.Nyangenzi announced his resignation on Monday evening in a meeting which had brought together district officials.He said his time had come to let others lead the district. He was serving his second term after he was re-elected last year.However, it emerged that Nyangezi resigned after he had been called to attend a provincial meeting, which inside sources say, could have led to his resignation.Efforts to reach him were futile as he wouldn’t pick his phone.But when contacted, the District Advisory Council president, Jean d’Amour Gatera, confirmed the development saying the council received Nyangezi’s resignation letter on Monday evening."We got his resignation letter citing personal issues,” said Gatera.Gatera said Alexandre Mvuyekure, the district’s vice mayor in charge of finance and economic planning will be the interim Mayor pending a by-election expected in three months’ time.According to sources who preferred anonymity, Nyangezi was under pressure over the district’s poor performance. The district was ranked 27th out of 30 in last year’s performance contract assessment, a position the district has failed to move up from. The district was rocked by leadership wrangles following the dismissal of the former Executive Secretary, Sinese Museveni, by the DAC over alleged incompetence.Museveni was sacked over alleged failure to pay debts the district owes various private service providers, and failure to implement the council’s directives, among a list of other charges the DAC said undermined the credibility of the district officials.The officials had earlier attributed the district’s poor performance to Museveni’s failure to manage its operations but residents say there was no improvement in terms of developmental activities even after his dismissal.Nyangezi is the second mayor to resign in one month. Just last month, Francois Niyotwagira, of Ngoma District, also threw in the towel citing personal reasons.Sources said Niyotwagira had earlier faced criticism over mismanagement of the district and grabbing land meant for returnees from Tanzania several years ago.Ngoma District has also often been ranked among the worst, in executing performance contracts.