Widows demand compensation amidst railway construction
Some of the kiosks around the railway line in Namanve. PHOTO/JESSICA SABANO
What you need to know:
- The URC Managing Director, Mr Stanely Ssendegeya, said the project that starts October 2021 will affect 10,000 people along the Nakawa-Kampala City and Mukono District.
Widows in Mukono District who are going to be affected in the construction of the Uganda Railway are demanding compensation so as to resettle in other places.
Ritah Nakibuule, a widow and a resident of Namayiba in Mukono South Constituency, said she lost her business during the first wave of Covid-19 and has no money to relocate as the government ordered them to vacate by October.
The Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) gave a six months ultimatum from April to September for all people residing in the Uganda Railway Reserve to vacate and was not clear on any compensations to be made.
Nakibuule said she has lived in the area for more than 40 years until she lost her husband five years back.
"I and two children are staying here and have nowhere to go now as we lack money after losing our businesses due to Covid-19," she said.
But URC said the land would be used to revamp Railway transport in the country.
Sarah Kizito, also a widow, said she was evicted from her land 10 years back and resorted to residing near the railway line.
"A government official grabbed my land and forcefully evicted me and my children after I had lost my husband. If the Uganda Railway is also evicting us then I have nowhere to go," she said.
Another widow, Lovisa Nabuzaale, a resident in Nakisunga Sub-county, said she came to resettle in the area after being displaced by floods in Bududa District.
Mukono Resident District Commissioner (RDC), MsFatuma Ndisaba has since asked the government ‘‘to be considerate and compensate the widows to help them relocate rather than leaving them homeless and yet Covid-19 affected their work too.’’
The Member of Parliament for Mukono South Constituency, Mr Fred Kayondo, said: "Government should know that the people they are evicting every now and then are Ugandans and have nowhere to go.’’
The URC Managing Director, Mr Stanely Ssendegeya, said the project that starts October 2021 will affect 10,000 people along the Nakawa-Kampala City and Mukono District since these two areas are overpopulated.
"The compensation being talked of is just a request which the government may meet or not," he said.
