The Democratic Party (DP) chairman for Nakawa Division has accused the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) as responsible for the Kiteezi disaster and said that it should be held accountable.
While addressing members of the press at the party headquarters at Balintuma Road in Mengo, Rubaga division, on August 20, 2024, Keeno Musanyusa, the DP chairman for Nakawa division, said that in all this, NEMA should be the first body to be held accountable before the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
“We have seen many people apportioning blame to KCCA, but in all this, the blame goes to NEMA, and they should be held accountable. As DP, we demand immediate accountability from NEMA and a comprehensive waste management strategy to avoid such occurrences,” he said.
Musanyusa also criticized NEMA for being tough with evictions in wetlands but too slow to act about the Kiteezi tragedy.
“Isn’t Kiteeze part of NEMA, or does environment only mean wetlands? What plans do they have for the future of Uganda’s garbage? Is the wetland issue of Nansana and Lubigi more serious than the Kiteezi issue, which has claimed lives? Musanyusa asked.
On the morning of August 10, 2024, residents of Kiteezi in Kasangati town council, Kyadondo East constituency in Wakiso district, woke up to a landfill collapse disaster where over 30 people lost their lives, others were injured, and many families were displaced.
The incident happened after a pile of rubbish from a rubbish collection point in Kiteezi, which has been a garbage gathering place for all the rubbish from Kampala, and some parts of Wakiso exploded, burying households and claiming lives and destroying property.
The technocrats at KCCA insist that the reason why the Kiteezi landfill continued to take pressure from Kampala city and Wakiso garbage is the lack of funds to purchase a bigger chunk of land to be the new dumpsite for the garbage collected.
The KCCA leadership, led by Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, maintains that KCCA was aware of the impending disaster and some people at NEMA and that the KCCA technical wing ignored the warning that led to the loss of lives and property.
Some Ugandan activists have taken issue on social media, especially on X, demanding that some leaders both political and technical at KCCA and NEMA resign and also be arrested for negligence of duty that led to the loss of lives and leaving some people homeless.
