Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has apportioned most of the blame linked to the devastating city floods on the government’s continued failure to arrest and evict encroachers of wetlands.
Lukwago, who was speaking on a national broadcast on Monday, March 31, 2025, claimed that the Kampala floods should be blamed on President Yoweri Museveni and the selective application of evicting wetland encroachers, which left the rich to encroach and block wetlands and water channels, which has resulted in floods.
His claim comes after a massive flooding on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, left several Kampala residents in fear when lots of properties were destroyed, some vehicles were submerged and in some areas specifically at Kampala-Jinja highway, Kyambogo, Kinawataka (Katogo), and parts of the Northern Bypass become impassable.
“At several times have called on the concerned government agencies to apprehend wet lands encroachers and drainage but in vain hence the lack of the spirit to arrest these people especially Hamis Kigundu and others that have hugely contributed to the floods in the Kampala city,” Lukwago said.
The lord mayor blamed the government for failure to fulfill its contribution, given the World Bank’s willingness to fund a bigger percentage that would have led to the construction of modern water drainage and channels in Kampala City.
However, Richard Musoke, a Ugandan based in Boston suggested that flood can be combated by building reservoir lakes and ponds to stop the drainage channels being overwhelmed.
Musoke adds that this stored water can be improvised to wash the streets in the dry weather and water the plants along the major roads.
Last year, the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) ordered Hamis Kiggundu to immediately cease all construction activities on the Kigula drainage channel in Nakivubo after public outcry over the flooding caused by the project.
The catastrophic encounter comes as Kampala city suffers from a lack of effective governance and outdated colonial-era urban planning master plans that fail to address the demands of today’s rapidly growing population in city and the neighboring areas.
