On Monday, the National Unity Platform party leadership under the stewardship of the President H.E Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert and the spokesperson/ Leader of the parliamentary front Joel Ssenyonyi visited the victims of the Kiteezi landfill tragedy.
This was after two weeks since the tragedy occurred on August 10th and buried dozens of people who were in the neighborhood of the landfill.
The party leadership first encountered barricades erected by the police and military to restrain access to the site where some of the families of the victims are being accommodated in a Red Cross tent at Kiteezi Church of Uganda Primary School.
The delegation which comprised of party leaders and over 10 Members of Parliament delivered a consignment of relief items which included food and household items to help the families of the victims.
The president called for legal action against the officials in the Kampala Capital City Authority who are liable for criminal negligence as they had been notified about the tragedy in waiting years and months earlier but they didn’t take any action that would prevent fatalities.
“So, I call upon you all not to leave this matter to only politicians but to stand with us as we assist you to seek justice,” the president stated. “This was not an environmental issue like those landslides we have witnessed in Kasese or Bududa. This has been known by KCCA and parliament, because the area woman MP Naluyima Ethel brought this concern of Kiteezi to the floor of parliament, but nothing was done, it was ignored,” he added.
He furthermore appealed to the families of the affected to get in touch with the party lawyers to ensure that all the victims are compensated with shelter as they can no longer return to Kiteezi.
The Leader of our Parliament front Joel Ssenyonyi in his remarks said it is disheartening to see people losing their lives over something preventable.
“This was not an accident. This is not something that was unexpected. This was expected in every sense because we did see the letters written by some KCCA officials saying look, we need to take action on this matter because the garbage is about to give way,” he said. “We demand justice for these people, ever since the tragedy happened, no one has been arrested, yet we all know this was not a disaster, government knew about it. So we want them to have all those involved punished for negligent for their jobs and we want government to compensate all the victims,” he added.
Kyadondo East MP Muwada Nkunyingi vowed to address the issue thoroughly as a lawyer and he revealed that he is ready to take the Government to court.
The Kiteezi landfill tragedy has caused untold pain and frustration to the people who have lived next to the facility that was established in this vicinity 28 years ago. The landfill uses traditional waste management mechanisms despite multiple benchmarking trips that KCCA authorities have made in other countries. None of the KCCA officials is willing to take responsibility for the tragedy that has killed over 35 people and buried dozens under the heaps of garbage. The regime police have also failed to conclude the rescue efforts citing numerous issues ranging from fuel and the rain.
The National Unity Platform continues to condole with the bereaved families and also extends its thoughts and support for those yet to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones.