The Democratic Party (DP) has asked the police and Kampala City Council Authority (KCCA) to ensure that all landlords set up compulsory firefighting equipment.

Ismail Kiirya, the acting DP spokesperson, said this while addressing a presser on December 12, 2023.

This comes after a fire gutted City House, which also houses DP offices, on Monday, December 11, 2023, where one person was confirmed dead and businesses worth millions were destroyed.

According to Kiirya, this serves as a lesson to let all buildings in Kampala and the surrounding area have fire precautions.

“Let every building have a fire extinguisher. If every section of City House had a fire extinguisher, such serious damages wouldn’t have been registered,” Kiirya said.

Kiirya called upon organizations to adopt fire alarms and fire extinguishers.

“Let buildings have fire alarms that can warn people about fire. Additionally, let fire extinguishers be installed and train people on how to operate them. As the Democratic Party, we have one fire extinguisher at our offices, but not all the tenants have one, “he added.

Kiirya asked financial institutions like banks whose clients are part of City House tenants to kindly reconsider the deadlines for paying back the loans since it’s now hard to meet them because of the incidence.

A fire gutted City House, a building on Luwum Street in Kampala, resulting in the death of one person and significant damage to several businesses. The fire started at around 9:15 a.m. in the basement and then spread to the third floor, where Democratic Party offices are located.