Pastor Kakande, coffin makers strike deal

Prophet Samuel Kakande of the Synagogue Church of All Nations. File photo

What you need to know:

  • On Wednesday, the coffin makers alleged that Prophet Kakande’s church bought land and turned into a car-parking lot, which blocked the natural drainage channel, resulting in backflow and flooding in their neighbourhood.
  • This isn’t the first time Prophet Kakande’s church administration had been at loggerheads with neighbours.

KAMPALA. The Synagogue Church of All Nations led by Prophet Samuel Kakande and coffin makers in a Kampala outskirt have agreed to unblock a drainage channel after a protest there on Wednesday resulted in the arrest and incarceration of eighteen people.
The carpenters operating near Prophet Kakande’s church at Kubbiri in Mulago, a city suburb, protested after floods resulting from a blocked drainage soaked the coffins displayed by the roadside for sale.

In a meeting chaired by Wandegeya Police Division commander, Mr Joseph Nsabimana, residents and pastors from Prophet Kakande’s church agreed that the drainage channel should be unblocked to allow smooth flow of water.
Mr Paul Kangave, the deputy spokesman for Kampala Metropolitan Police, said Prophet Kakande’s church administration agreed to construct a new drainage channel provided that suspects in police custody apologise for the “inconveniences they caused to the church”.

Wandegeya Division Police Commander Joseph Nsambimana talks to a colleague infront of coffins which were confiscated from carpenters who were protesting on Wednesday. Photo by Stephen Otage


“The arrested people agreed to write apology to Prophet Kakande’s church. The two parties also agreed that the promises made by each side be put in an agreement that each side will sign. After the signing of the agreement, we shall release the eighteen suspects on police bond [on Thursday],” Mr Kangave said.
The church and the coffin dealers are contrasting businesses in a flood-prone city slum.

On Wednesday, the coffin makers alleged that Prophet Kakande’s church bought land and turned into a car-parking lot, which blocked the natural drainage channel, resulting in backflow and flooding in their neighbourhood.
They said efforts to talk to the church to establish an alternative drainage channel were futile.
When storm water from a heavy downpour on Wednesday inundated their business premises, enraged carpenters carried coffins and staged a demonstration at the church premises.

Police later stopped the protest and arrested the ringleaders on charges of “holding an illegal assembly”.
Mr Kangave said the protest was illegal since they had not notified the police.
This isn’t the first time Prophet Kakande’s church administration had been at loggerheads with neighbours. A decade ago, residents protested the ring-fencing of the spring well, which was the main source of clean water in poor neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, police have released more than twenty traders picked up on Wednesday for protesting an eviction order from Park Yard Market near Nakivubo War Memorial Stadium.