Residents, business owners cry out over order to renovate premises

Mr Jonathan Lumala is a bitter and disgruntled man.

The businessman operating on Ggaba Road accused Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) of forcing him to carry out renovations outside the premises of his workplace.

Rather than risk his business facing closure, Mr Lumala told the Monitor last Friday that he opted to heed the directive by proceeding to hire a team of workers to plant grass and install pavers outside his workshop which is located a few meters away from the road.

“I was instructed by a team of KCCA officials who visited my workplace last year on December 20 that I either put pavers on the compound adjacent to the road or plant grass,” he said.

At the time of the interview, we found three women planting grass while two men stood away mixing cement, sand, and water, some of the ingredients for making pavers.

Mr Lumala, who was supervising the group, said he had so far spent Shs1.8 million on the work.

“We are being pushed to the wall yet the government I pay taxes to should be the one doing these renovations,” he said, adding, “If they want us to invest our resources, they should have at least notified us earlier so that we also plan accordingly.”

The businessman is not alone. Several members of the business community shared the same predicament with Daily Monitor.

Similarly, a section of landlords and residents also revealed that they have been urged to paint their houses to “modern standards.”

Last Friday and Saturday, Daily Monitor, during a mini-survey observed that painting was being done at some of the residences located a few meters away from the road in Kasanga, Kabalagala, Bunga, Buziga, and Munyonyo suburbs.

Ms Catherine Matovu, a landlady in Kabalagala, said she received directives from KCCA officials instructing her to paint her apartments because the country is expecting visitors.

“I was told last December that my buildings should be re-painted because their colours had faded,” Ms Matovu said, adding, “I tried to ask for more time because of a constrained budget but my pleas fell on deaf ears after they reasoned that Uganda is expecting foreign presidents during a NAM summit this January and the visitors needed to find the country tidy and smart.”

Ms Matovu’s apartments are located about 10 meters away from the main road in Kabalagala suburb. 

The renovation pressures is in preparation for the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit taking place between January 15 and 19 alongside the Group of 77 (G-77) + China Third South Summit from January 20 to 24.

The summits will be held at Speke Resort Convention Centre in Munyonyo.

More than 5,000 delegates including 70 heads of State from 134 countries across the globe will be at the two events combined.

President Museveni, in November last year, said the summits will provide a platform for global cooperation, solidarity and advancing common goals.

The events will follow the just concluded 18th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), an event which took place from January 3 to 6 at Munyonyo, to among other things enable Uganda network and collaborate with other countries to further their interests globally.

Speaking to Daily Monitor last Saturday, KCCA spokesman Simon Kasyate said the business community and residents were notified to do the renovations a while back.

“We have been telling these people from way back [to do renovations],” Mr Kasyate said, adding, “NAM is not something we have not learned about now. We have been preparing for it for over a year and have been engaging these communities through their leaders and directly to them.”

The directives, Mr Kasyate explained, are for their good and not the visitors.

“We are not putting them under pressure. We are just calling upon them to do the improvements and for some of these basics, the government is not going to do them for you. What we are doing is for their good and not so much even for the visitors who are coming here and not even glance at their premises,” he said.

“But when they go and the dust has settled, we shall stay and need to remain to stay in a better City. We cannot do it [do renovations alone] exclusively but together because we are part of the same eco-system,” Mr Kasyate concluded on the matter.

Under section 57 of “offences” in the Physical Planning (Amendment) Act, 2020, a person who fails to paint his or her building, place a litter bin at their building, builds in a road reserve as defined in the Roads Act, 2019 commits an offence and is liable, on conviction to a fine not exceeding Shs 2 million or imprisonment not exceeding one year or both.

ABOUT NAM

The renovation pressures are ahead of the 19th Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit taking place in the country between January 15 and 19 and will run back to back with the Group of 77 (G-77) + China Third South Summit from January 20 to 24. Speke Resort Convention Centre in Munyonyo is the event.

More than 5,000 delegates including 70 heads of State from 134 countries across the globe will be hosted at the two events combined.

President Museveni, in November last year, said the summits will provide a platform for global cooperation, solidarity and advancing common goals.

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