Developer destroys Kamwokya houses on site

Developer destroys Kamwokya houses during excavation of the site. In a city suburb of Kamwokya, several residents of church zone-Kamwokya in Kampala Central division are up in arms against Richard Munezero, the proprietor of Plot 26 at church road for destroying their houses because of excavation works at his construction site.   

Three houses comprising five rental rooms and latrines collapsed on Monday night as the tractors carried out deep excavations as clearing of the ground for the construction of a storied building took place. Margret Akum whose rented house collapsed on Monday night, says their complaints to the area leaders and property owners about the excavation works did not yield results.    

She says that around 8 pm, the toilet caved in before the electricity poles also collapsed. According to Akum, they immediately started evacuating some household property and run for their lives. She says that a few minutes later, the houses started collapsing.   

Akum together with 15 other tenants and their children spent the night out of the cold.         

The affected people led by Vicent Musasizi are calling for government intervention to compel Munezero to compensate them for their lost property.       

Charles Mawejje, one of the property owners in the area, says that they have been raising concern with the site engineer over the close excavation behind their houses in vain. He says that instead, the property developer deployed armed security guards to scare them away.  

According to Mawejje, the developer asked them to sell him their land in vain prompting him to act with impunity.  The site Engineer, Musaana Faizo declined to comment on the allegations.  

Officers from the Kamwokya police post led by the officer in Charge, Hassan Irumba, and KCCA officers rushed to intervene as the residents were planning to demonstrate and raid the site. 

George Ninsima Agaba, the Director of Physical Planning at KCCA, who was among the KCCA team that visited the construction site, has halted the ongoing construction until the building plan is revised.