The Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, Nkunyingi Muwada broke into tears
during the debate over the Kitezi landfill disasters.
Muwada,
whose constituency covers areas of Lusanja and Kitezi could not hold back tears as the matter was being debated on the floor of Parliament.
Muwada said that he had repeatedly warned of the impending disaster but the government did not provide
funds for decommissioning the landfill. Kiteezi was commissioned in 1996. It should
have been commissioned in 2018 but KCCA continued to use it despite the deteriorating
situation
“In September
2021, I petitioned the Parliament and the government on this floor about the state and condition of the landfill, A
few days later, I went to the landfill with the state minister for Kampala.
Water flooding from the landfill had washed away people’s houses,” said
Muwadda.
He said he
had demanded that KCCA deploy standby engineers on the landfill where garbage from
Kampala and the neighbouring district is dumped.
While the
landfill was disaster-prone, Muwadda told the Parliament that there was no form
of disaster warning in the area neighbouring the residences.
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While the
government said most of those whose houses were affected were encroachers on
the land bought by the former Kampala City council, Muwadda insists that the
landfill found a majority of the people living in that area.
“It is very saddening
to have your people being branded encroachers after being killed by the state,”
said Muwadda before he was overcome by emotions that sent him sobbing.
He then
faulted the police and members of the security forces for blocking volunteers
who were helping in rescue efforts
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Muwadda was contributing
to a statement by the State Minister for Disaster, Lillian Aber in which she
was updating the Parliament about the Kiteezi disaster. She said 23 bodies had
been recovered from the area by Monday evening.
According to
Aber, 56 households had been affected by the disaster. She added that eighteen people were rescued but the number
of those still buried in the garbage could not be estimated.
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She revealed
that there were two unclaimed bodies at the mortuary. “They are all juveniles
and we are waiting for the relatives of those people to claim the bodies,” said
Aber.
Executive, Parliament Played Death Ear
Engineer Balimwezo Nsubuga Ronald, the Nakawa East MP
said the Executive and Parliament have for years not provided funds for the decommissioning
of the Kiteezi landfill.
According to Balimwezo, what happened on Saturday
was not a natural disaster.
“This is not a natural disaster. It was induced by
humans. And there are very many institutions to blame including Parliament," charged Balimwezo, also the former Mayor of Nakawa Division.
Balimwezo, like Muwadda, said the issue of decommissioning
the Kitezi and landfill had been tabled in the parliament for the last eight years
but the funds were availed.
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The Minister of Kampala Capital City and Metropolitan
Affairs, Minsa Kabanda apologized for the death and property destroyed.
The
minister equally sounded helpless as she narrated how the effort to decommission
the landfill was frustrated by the lack of funds.
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Semujju
Ibrahim Nganda caused laughter in the House as he sympathized with the
Minister. “I
sympathize with colleagues who accept to be Ministers. The Minister for
Kampala, when I asked her to respond, she was as crying as any other Member of
Parliament. We did this, we did this. I don’t know why you accept to be
Ministers in a Government like this. And I am saying this deliberately because I
have seen the Vice President and Prime Minister after their appointment going
to Gulu to thank Gen. Saleh. You all have contributed to creating this disaster
of one man taking every decision, that is why you are all here crying. You come
to Parliament to cry, so what do you want us to do?” asked Ssemujju Nganda.
He
joined emerging voices that are opposed to transferring the landfill to Dundu
in Mukono district due to health concerns. “Because the waste you put there is not
processed. Kiteezi has attracted all the dogs in the world. All the flies. The
trucks that carry garbage from Kampala maybe are supposed to carry firewood,” said
Semujju.
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For
now, KCCA does not have a budget to commence the decommissioning of the Kiteezi
which experts including the Lord Mayor of Kampala, Erias Lukwago said did
qualify to be categorized as a landfill because it did not meet any of the
requirements.
