'Shs500m sacred tree' finally uprooted

The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and the China Railway 19th Bureau Group Company Limited, the contractors for Busega-Mpigi Expressway last evening uprooted a ‘sacred’ tree locally known as Nabukalu at Mabuye Village in Mpigi District that had slowed down the construction works.

The tree was sitting on 0.083-acre piece of land belonging to Lugave (Pangolin) Clan in the Buganda Kingdom and clan members used to visit the site for blessings. It took the excavator operator close to four hours to pull down the tree which is said to have been 100 years old.

Mr Hussein Katamba, the caretaker of the site, and kibanja had sued Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) demanding Shs500m as compensation to relocate the clan ‘spirits’.

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However, Mpigi High Court on Wednesday ruled that Mr Katamba should be given Shs4.6m instead and uproot the tree to pave way for the road works.

Early this week, Works Minister Edward Katumba Wamala said the government was ready to give Shs150m to the clan leaders to facilitate the relocation of the site to another place, but the latter rejected the offer, saying it could not “appease the clan spirits”.

Hours after the court ruling on Thursday, Mr Katamba warned of severe repercussions if UNRA goes ahead and uproot the tree without fulfilling the “demands of the spirits”.

However, there was a commotion outside court as some members of Lugave clan accused Mr Katamba of refusing to take Shs150m the government had offered.

“He [Katamba] could have withdrawn the case and accept Shs150m, now see the loss he has caused to the clan,” an unidentified female clan member, said.

Mr Peter Musoke, the chairperson of Mabuye Village, said they have grown up knowing Nabukala as a spiritual tree, and some rituals could have been performed before pulling it down.

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“Yes, there was a court ruling, but the contractor could have waited for clan leaders to guide them before destroying the tree,” he said.

The road project which kicked off in May 2020 was expected to be complete in May this year, but construction works currently stand at only 15 per cent and unresolved land wrangles are partly blamed for delaying the project.

Last week, Minister Wamala said they had given the contractors three more years up to May 2025 to enable them to complete the work.

Like the case with Kampala-Entebbe Expressway, Mr Wamala, said the Busega-Mpigi Expressway will require motorists to pay money depending on the vehicle size.

He said the majority of Project Affected Persons (PAPs) had already received their compensation packages and the remaining few will be cleared soon.

The ongoing construction works started from Katende Village in Kiringente Sub County and continue towards Mpigi Town Council.

In some areas along the expressway like Maya, Nsangi, Nabbingo, and Kyengera, the contractor has not yet started work while in other places like Lungala, Katende, Lufuka, Ggala, and Maziba- Nkonge serious works like land clearance, topsoil removal, drainage works, earthworks, borrow pit operations and construction of box culverts are ongoing.

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The Shs540b new expressway will include four major interchanges to facilitate interconnection with roads at designated points at Nabbingo, Nsangi, Maya in Wakiso District, and Lungala in Mpigi District off both the Northern Bypass and the Entebbe-Expressway whose expansion and construction, separately is complete.

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