The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LOP), Joel Ssenyonyi, has issued a warning, saying that if the government and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) don’t adequately compensate the victims of the Kiteezi Landfill tragedy, the opposition would assist them in taking legal action.

Ssenyonyi made the remarks on August 22, 2024, while addressing Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Shadow Cabinet on matters of national importance at Parliament. He noted that the Kiteezi incident was out of government negligence, adding that those responsible should be exposed.

According to Ssenyonyi, the issues of Kiteezi landfill should be taken seriously, and if this doesn’t happen, they are engaging those bereaved families so that legal action is taken against the government.

“We are demanding that the government, with immediacy, compensate these families. Once that doesn’t happen in the soonest, we are encouraging these bereaved and affected families to come out, and we are going to support them in taking legal action against the government because this is a clear case of negligence,” Ssenyonyi noted.

He said that the government shouldn’t wait for that legal action because this was a clear case of negligence, and that if the government was caring, they should have moved quickly to hold those responsible accountable and to compensate the victims because they are being sheltered in tents with no food to eat.

The Kiteezi landfill collapse, which occurred on August 10, 2024, resulted in the tragic loss of over 35 lives, several others injured, and significant damage to the local community, raising serious concerns about waste management practices and government accountability.