Landlord demands Shs200m as army truck rams into building

A landlord in Wakiso District has demanded for more than 200 million as compensation fees after the Uganda Peoples' Defence Forces (UPDF) truck on July 2 swerved off the road and rammed into his building in Kagoma township .

According to eye witnesses, the incident happened at around 1:30pm when the driver of the UPDF truck registration number H4DF 2945 Tata lost control as he was travelling from Kampala heading to Bombo.

“Our building is on the side of Bombo-Kampala highway but I wondered how this truck veered from the other side up to the shop where I was seated,” said Mr Charles Mubiru Mutebi.

Mr Mubiru said he was able to survive with no injuries but some of his items were damaged.

“I sell electronics and some of them including electric kettles, a popcorn machine among others were all totally destroyed,” he said.

He said the driver sustained some minor injuries and was seen bleeding.

Mr Paddy Kakumba, the owner of the building, said he received the information from one of his tenants but the whole building has been damaged.

“The truck rammed into the beam and destroyed it and once they remove the vehicle that is currently holding the beam, the building will be totally down,” he said.

He said his building has four rooms and all have developed cracks and they cannot be saved.

“I call upon the UPDF to cooperate with me and I get paid,” Mr Kakumba said.

Lawrence Nuwabiine , the director traffic and road safety, confirmed the incident and said investigations into the cause of the accident have started.

“It is true a UPDF truck rammed into the building along Kampala-Bombo road but no life has been lost,” he said.

Brig Gen Felix Kulayigye, UPDF spokesperson, said if they establish that they are in the wrong, they will compensate the owner of the building.

“Let’s first get the truth and automatically the owner will be compensated,” he said.