Act swiftly on Lusanja victims

What you need to know:

The issue: Compensate the Lusanja victims

Our view: The government’s contrition, through the Attorney General, for the unfortunate incident is welcome, but actions will speak louder than words.

We welcome a resolution by Parliament to direct the Executive to provide compensation for the people who were illegally evicted from Lusanja, Wakiso District.
This baseless action resulted in hurt and pain for vulnerable citizens, including the elderly and children. Many lost their homes and their possessions.

We have no exact idea how many are now homeless as a result of this cruel move. The numbers are varying but we hope this is not another loophole that will be exploited at the disadvantage of the taxpayer.
The government’s contrition, through the Attorney General, for the unfortunate incident is welcome, but actions will speak louder than words. It is imperative that the government delivers residents firm answers soon. Without them, the pain simply goes on.

We, also, hope the concerned government agencies will move as fast as possible to put the affected people in a condition they were in prior to the unfortunate and illegal eviction, or perhaps in an even better state.
The affected people have undergone severe adverse effects on the physical, social, emotional and spiritual well-being, including post-traumatic stress disorders, psychosomatic illness, depression and anxiety.

We hope the support will include interventions to protect and promote mental health and psychosocial well-being.
While we think it is right and just for the government to immediately expend taxpayer money on these citizens who have endured untold suffering, we suggest that the government commences another process to hold those responsible accountable, including where possible to recover the funds from budgets of institutions and individuals who will be found culpable for having perpetrated this mess.

We also support the resolution of the House that government undertakes a special investigation into such acts and holds all the culprits accountable. We, however, wish to note that we have had so many of such investigations which drain the tax payer the more. If not already in place, policies should be established to deal with such because they are bound to happen again.

We take note that the businessman accused of being behind the eviction has since denied the same. This, therefore, calls for the investigators to find beyond the judicial officers perpetrators of this eviction to also be held to account.
Finally, the government owes an apology to the affected people for above everything failing to protect them.