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Kasubi traders finally get land, demand relocation
Kampala Capital City Authority officials led by executive director Jennifer Musisi tour the newly constructed Nakukabye road which connects to Kasubi market on June 4 PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Kampala-After operating by the road reserve for close to three decades, Kasubi traders in Rubaga Division, are celebrating receiving government donation of land measuring 1.2 acres.
Motorists, who use the Hoima Road on the other hand, will breathe a sigh of relief with the new development since the occasional traffic gridlock that normally paralyses Kasubi will be mitigated.
The Shs2b land transaction was triggered by the stalled extension of the Kasubi-Namungoona lane, to the Northern Bypass, which had been blocked by traders.
The land, which will be the new home to more than 20,000 traders, is on Hoima Road, about a kilometre from the road reserve where traders are currently operating from.
Mr Peter Kaujju, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) director of public and corporate affairs, in an interview on Wednesday said the land will first be levelled before traders can relocate.
“We also want to first connect power and water to this land and also construct a makeshift structure where traders can operate in the meantime as we plan to put up a permanent structure,” Mr Kaujju said.
He acknowledged that the delayed relocation of traders has stalled the construction works on the road, but explained that government hadn’t secured money to buy the land.
The traders’ refusal to vacate the contested reserve was hinged on the government plan to secure them a permanent working space which had hit a deadlock despite earlier pledges by President Museveni to bail them out. As such, they blocked the construction works on the Kasubi-Namungoona lane, something that put the progress of the multibillion project at stake as the donor threatened to withdraw funding.
According to statistics from traders’ leaders, there are currently 23,500 of them at Kasubi market.
Mr Ronald Zibu, the chairperson of Kasubi market, on Wednesday said they are not certain when KCCA will relocate them.
“We really thank government for buying us a permanent place, but we would like to relocate there as soon as possible to get rid of the congestion since we are operating from a road reserve,’’ he said.
Mr Zibu, however, said he would ask KCCA officials about the pending relocation so that traders aren’t ambushed with the exercise.
But Mr Kaujju said the relocation programme will be furnished to traders when the new place is ready.
When we visited the land on Wednesday, it was still intact, with only the debris of the house which was demolished after the transaction was sealed.
About the project
The Kasubi-Namungoona lane is among the roads scheduled for construction by KCCA under the Second Kampala Infrastructural and Institutional Development Project (KIIDP-2).
The five-year project, whose implementation started in May 2015, is funded by World Bank and seeks to enhance infrastructural and institutional capacity of KCCA and improve urban mobility for inclusive economic growth. The entire project will cost $183.7m(about Shs712 billion).
The project has two components; the widening and construction of city roads, drainage and associated infrastructure. The second component is the institutional and systems development support – this aims to strengthen the capacity of KCCA to deliver on its mandate.
The project is being implemented by KCCA in the five Kampala divisions of Central, Nakawa, Makindye, Kawempe, and Rubaga.
The $183m five-year roads project, which started in 2015, seeks to improve Kampala’s mobility and drainage system.
