Hoima municipal bosses, landlords differ on eviction
Some of the buildings in Hoima Town that might be affected by the roads’ expansion. Landlords want to be compensated for any property that will be demolished. Photo by Francis Mugerwa.
What you need to know:
Coverage. The $150m project, supported by the World Bank, covers 14 municipalities located in different parts of the country
Hoima.
Landlords in Hoima Municipality have opposed plans by authorities to demolish their properties without compensation.
The municipality is one of the 14 that were selected to benefit from the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development programme.
Ms Grace Mugasa, the municipality mayor, told property owners that under the project, roads will be constructed and expanded while electricity and water will be brought closer to the people.
She said they had already received about Shs3.9b for the first phase of the project and asked landlords in the municipality to support the project.
However, according to municipal authorities, the project has no component of compensating people whose properties will be destroyed by infrastructural development projects.
This has prompted landlords to form an association - Hoima Landlords and Property Owners Association, through which they will demand for compensation of all those affected.
Last week, during a consultative meeting, the landlords adopted a proposal fronted by Mr Kyabooga Kakiiza, which seeks to engage a lawyer to block the demolition of any property without compensation.
More than 100 landlords attended the meeting chaired by Mr Moses Asiimwe Byangire, one of the landlords held in Hoima Town.
The town clerk, Mr Emmanuel Banya, said they had gathered all the necessary documentation that would be used in the implementation of the project.
However, he said the municipality would only pay landlords whose properties are not in reserves that will be affected by the project.
History
The six-year project seeks to expand urban infrastructure and enhance the capacity of the 14 municipal local governments, including Arua, Gulu, Lira, Soroti, Moroto, Mbale, Tororo, Jinja, Entebbe, Masaka, Mbarara, Kabale, Fort Portal and Hoima.
