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Mukono residents cry out for justice after forced eviction by URC
LoP Joel Ssenyonyi, Ms Betty Nambooze in red dress and locals on Saturday at Kolo Village Namanve Mukono District. Photo | Jessica Sabano
What you need to know:
- Mr John Linnon Sengendo, the head of communications at URC, said the validation will be done and residents will given a disturbance fee.
Residents of Kolo village in Namanve Mukono municipality are crying out for help after being evicted from their homes by the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) in 2023. Over 2000 households were affected, with many now sleeping under trees, in churches, or in wooden shacks.
Mr Abudallah Mukasa, one of the affected residents, shared his heartbreaking story. "I had 50 housing units that were demolished without my consent. Now, I'm stranded with nowhere to stay with my family. We're forced to share a small room, which is humiliating for my grown-up children. I'm struggling to provide for my family, and I don't know how much longer we can survive like this."
Mr Mathew Mungumbele, another affected resident, revealed that he settled on the contested railway land in 2006 and purchased the land from a Uganda railway officer. According to him, the officer who sold the land to them had intentions that these people were to protect the vandalism on the line.
Ms Olivia Opili, once a landlady who owned five units of rentals, said her rentals were demolished, and she is now being housed by the church. She urged the government to at least compensate them so that they could get somewhere to buy.
The residents are appealing to the Leader of Opposition, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi, to intervene and pressure the government to compensate them and relocate them to another area.
Mr Mathias Mutyaba, the area chairperson, expressed his disappointment with the URC. "We were told that the railway only needed 10 meters of land and that we would be compensated. But instead, people's property was demolished without any compensation."
The area Member of Parliament, Ms Betty Nambooze, also criticised the URC, citing the terms and conditions between the government and the African Development Bank. "The government is indirectly creating insecurity in the country by not compensating the affected residents. This may lead to attacks on ongoing investments in Namanve. The government should have compensated the residents before evicting them."
Mr Joel Ssenyony emphasized the need for the government to compensate people before evicting them.
"As opposition, we don't oppose development, but we fight against the oppression of people. The government must value people's property accordingly before evicting them. People get evicted and die early because of stress. We urge those who are in the 20-meter railway area not to leave until they get the money," he said.
In response, Mr John Linnon Sengendo, the head of communications at URC, said the validation will be done and residents will given a disturbance fee.
"What they refer to as compensation is resettlement. Since the government fully owns the land on which the residents settled, it was agreed that people are paid a disturbance amount (structured) only depending on the value of the structure as established by the Chief Government Valuer."
"We are in the process of procuring a RAP consultant to validate what was in the report. When that is done, disclosure and payments will be made," he said.
He added that no URC official sold land to any residents.
