Family camps at Entebbe Express Highway site over compensation
Family members camp at the construction site of Entebbe Express High Way. They claim they are protecting a graveyard. PHOTO BY EPHRAIM KASOZI
What you need to know:
The families accuse road officials of grading their graveyard without compensation.
Wakiso- A family has camped at the section of Entebbe Express High Way construction site at Nakigalala in Ssisa Sub-county, Wakiso District protesting the acquisition of their land without compensation.
The family erected a tent and fireplace to protect the graveyard where more than 200 people were allegedly buried since 1930s.
Family members led by administrators of the 306 acre-land, Mr Benjamin Kalumba Ssebuliba and Mr Robert Kayongo, accused Uganda National Road Authority (UNRA) officials and the contractor of grading their graveyard without compensation.
“We have decided to camp here as we make arrangements to exhume our deceased relatives and forefathers. We shall stay here at whatever situation because we have engaged the UNRA people in vain. We had fenced off this area but we found it removed,” Mr Yusuf Lubega, a family member, said yesterday.
Mr Lubega said they would exhume all the bodies and invite UNRA officials to verify before proceeding to re-bury the dead.
Mr Kayongo appealed to the government to treat the matter as ‘serious’, saying the move amounted to disturbing the peace of the dead.
“We welcome the road construction on the land but we want to be treated like other people who have been compensated. We have followed all the due process and it is unfair to grade the grave yards before consideration,” he said. Kakira Sugar Works and Madhvani Group of Companies are also in contention for the land said to belong to the family of the late Muwanga Omuwesi.
In June, court stopped Kakira Sugar Works, the commissioner for land registration and Madhvani from selling or receiving compensation for the land until the dispute is settled.
The order followed an application by the estate administrators asking court to block the disposal of the controversial land until the dispute is resolved.
The Ssisa LC3 chairperson, Mr Patrick Byekwaso, asked the family to maintain peace until the matter is resolved by the responsible authorities.
The UNRA spokesperson, Mr Dan Alinange, challenged the family to forward the names of the deceased for verification and process for relocation of the dead.
“Those people lost a case in court and the owner of the land gave us a go ahead to work pending payment. But for us we know that there is no grave yard but rather a commentary for migrant workers,” Mr Alinange said.
