Kanyanya hill excavation poses landslide threats

The uncontrolled excavation of murram on Kanyanya Hill, a Kampala suburb, is posing a threat of landslides, residents have expressed concerns to this paper. The excavation that started in 2007 has left an estimated 100 families on top of the hill at risk of losing their lives and property.

Residents fear that the weakened rocks will soon collapse on their houses.

Vegetation cleared
“I came here in 2007 and found the hill intact but the continuous excavation of murram has made it look the way it is,” Ms Hope Natukunda, a resident, said.
Ms Natukunda said this has also exposed their houses to running water because the vegetation on the hill has been cleared.

Mr Musisi Sserunjogi, another resident, said he thought the plot owner was levelling the landscape to develop the land but he instead dug deep into the hill for murram.
Residents said wide gulleys have developed over time and has made transportation difficult in the area.

But the land owner, Mr Francis Onek, said he is just selling the murram on his land and doesn’t need permission from any authority. Makerere University environment lecturer Afunadula Oweyaghe told Daily Monitor that uncontrolled excavation of murram on a hill can cause landslides when the ground is trying to balance itself.

“Rocks holding the ground are dug out and disaster will befall if NEMA [National Environmental Management Authority] does not run to people’s rescue,” Mr Afunadula said.

Mr Bullo Swaibu, another resident, said they petitioned NEMA over the problem but nothing has been done. NEMA’s Executive Director Aryamanya-Mugisha, however, when contacted declined to comment on the matter.