The Prime Minister, Robinah Nabbanja, has asked the opposition Members of Parliament to make their own contribution to the people displaced by the Kiteezi landfill tragedy that occurred on August 10, 2024, following claims by the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, that the proposed UGX 2 million to compensate each of the displaced tenants was little.
Nabbanja made these remarks on October 3, 2024, in response to a concern raised by the opposition MPs led by Ssenyonyi, tasking the Premier to provide a breakdown on how the intended beneficiaries, whose homes were covered with garbage and are now camped in tents, will use such little amounts to start rebuilding their lives.
“We are going to decommission because we want our children to study since we took over their playground at Kiteezi Primary School. We are going to give UGX 2 million to each family so that the tenants can go and buy some small things and leave the playground. We are also going to make sure that the landlords—those that had houses in the buffer zone—the Chief Government Valuer will evaluate; the process is still on,” Nabbanja said.
According to Nabbanja, for the other 20 houses, their valuation is done; however, there are homes where all the people died, so it becomes difficult to know who to compensate, but the government is committed to seeing that those who are in the tent can have a place to go and rent.
Nabbanja added that Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and many other authorities were in attendance when decisions were made for people in Kiteezi to find somewhere to rent and that the government compensated them in order to have the site decommissioned.
She further urged LOP to contribute because others have done so and that he, too, may contribute rather than condemning the administration.
The argument between the two leaders followed a concern raised by Ethel Naluyima, the Wakiso District Woman Representative (DWR), who asked the Prime Minister to update Parliament on when the people displaced by the tragedy will be compensated and if there were long-term plans to deal with the waste management in the city.
In response, Nabbanja informed Parliament that the Office of the Prime Minister had received money from the government and that at the moment, there were 233 people who are still in the tent at the camp site, while 171 are going to be compensated on Friday 4, 2024.
