Unra moves to evict encroachers from road reserves
UNRA Grader demolishes Entebbe Deputy Town clerk's house in Entebbe town after forcefully evicting him in July 2018. The UNRA officials led by the Land Acquisition Officer, Mr Moses Kintu, demolished Mr Dan-Fred Lutaaya’s house accusing him of constructing it on the road reserve in Entebbe town along Kampala-Entebbe high way Photo by Eve Muganga
What you need to know:
- Cabinet last year approved the Roads Amendment Bill, 2017, with an objective of reforming the law relating to the development, management and maintenance of public roads.
The Uganda National Roads Authority (Unra) will starting today evict people that are operating in road reserves in Kampala city and on other major highways.
The affected roads are Munyonyo Spur, Entebbe Expressway, Kampala Northern Bypass, Mukono-Kayunga road, Mukono-Katosi road, Kampala-Bombo road, Kampala-Masaka road and Busega-Mityana road. Others are Kampala-Mukono-Jinja road, Kampala-Gayaza-Kalagi road and Kampala-Hoima road.
Unra deputy spokesperson Allan Ssempebwa said they have already issued vacation notices to those living in the road reserves.
“Stakeholder engagements have already been conducted and final vacation notices issued to the encroachers on the above mentioned roads in order to allow room for voluntary compliance,” Mr Ssempebwa said in a statement.
“While some of the encroachers have voluntarily vacated, others still remain operating from the road reserves. The exercise targets only those who will not have complied by Friday, December 20 (today),” he added.
Looming danger
The eviction of encroachers often involves running battles with the police as many resist demolishing their structures. The Entebbe Expressway road reserve is 25 metres on each side while Kampala-Mukono is 15 metres.
The business community that have turned road reserves into washing bays, garages and display yards will also be evicted. Many road reserves are encroached on by the business community who put up bars, stalls and even houses. This makes it difficult for authorities to expand roads, construct drainage channels and utility lines.
Later, the encroachers claim ownership of the land and demand compensation from government.
On Entebbe Road, encroachers have settled on the reserve, blocking drainage channels and leading to flooding, especially at Zana.
At Kireka Trading Centre on Kampala-Jinja road, market vendors have encroached on the road reserve and dump garbage in the drainage channel, leading to flooding during rainy seasons.
Background
Cabinet last year approved the Roads Amendment Bill, 2017, with an objective of reforming the law relating to the development, management and maintenance of public roads. The law also seeks to increase road reserves from 15 metres to 40 metres to allow enough space for future construction works.
A road reserve measures 15 metres from the middle of the road to either sides and is always marked to avoid encroachment.
