7,000 business owners sue KCCA over evictions
Vendors sell foodstuff at the Railway Market in Nalukolongo near Nateete, a Kampala suburb, on December 9, 2024. About 7,000 businesspeople who were evicted in 2014 by KCCA to pave way for railway works have sued the Authority. PHOTO/GEOFREY MUTUMBA
What you need to know:
- The court has since fixed a date early next year to hear the application such that three of the affected people are picked to represent the rest.
About 7,000 businesspeople who were in 2014 evicted by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) for illegally operating on a railway stretch from Kampala through Nateete to Nalukolongo, have petitioned the Land Division of the High Court in Kampala, seeking damages.
In 2014, KCCA while working with the police, evicted hundreds of businesses situated on the railway line in the aforementioned stretch for alleged illegal occupancy. The businesses evicted were mostly kiosks and makeshift shops.
Among those evicted is Mr Noah Onyango, who had a business on the railway line in Nalukolongo, which included a video hall, shops and rentals.
He recalls how the KCCA deployed bulldozers to put down his structures.
Mr Onyango's business was at the time registered under the Twegate Railway Vendors Association. He alongside others whose property were destroyed, claims to have gotten permission from Uganda Railways Corporation to operate on the railway line.
However, after the eviction, Mr Onyango and his colleagues reportedly reached out to KCCA for compensated but they got no response.
Court redress
With no reply from KCCA, the close to 7,000 affected individuals are now seeking court redress by way of a representative suit before the court.
Through their lawyers of Wakabala & Co Advocates, the affected businesspeople now want more than Shs40b in compensation.
“Take notice that Onyango Noah and two others of C/O Wakabala & Co Advocates have obtained a representative order to represent the under-mentioned 6,997 claimants/ intended plaintiffs in an intended suit against Kampala Capital City Authority to seek compensation for the property destroyed, general damages, and damages for the unlawful eviction,” reads a Monday notice published by the lawyers of the affected people.
Adding: “The intended plaintiffs were carrying on business along the railway line running from Kampala to Nalukolongo and Nateete.”
The court has since fixed January 22 next year to hear the application such that three of the affected people are picked to represent the rest.
When reached out, KCCA spokesperson Daniel Muhumuza Nuweabine declined to comment on grounds that the matter is now before the court.
