By close of business on Friday, police had retrieved four bodies of men from Nakivubo Channel in downtown Kampala. The victims are suspected to have died in the morning downpour that caused severe flooding across the city.
According to Deputy Kampala Metropolitan Police Spokesperson Luke Owoyesigyire, the deceased had not yet been identified.
“We have retrieved four bodies from Nakivubo Channel. We suspect that these were the boys who often sleep in the channel. We are conducting investigations to get details regarding their death. The bodies were conveyed to the City Mortuary,” Owoyesigyire said.
Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago and several traders whose businesses worth billions of shillings were destroyed by the floods blamed the ongoing construction of the Nakivubo Channel by businessman Hamis Kiggundu.
“There is no plan for water to escape as the Nakivubo Channel is being constructed. That’s why the water flows into these buildings, leaving traders counting losses. You cannot just construct and think water will miraculously find its way,” Lukwago said.
Traders wept as they found their merchandise, including clothes, mattresses, and food items, submerged in floodwater. When they attempted to demonstrate, unidentified goons wielding sticks reportedly attacked them, leaving some injured.
Police commanded by SP Natuhamya and ASP Mboro later fired teargas to disperse the angry traders. At least ten traders were arrested from the flooded arcades and plazas and taken to Kampala Central Police Station (CPS) on allegations of leading the protest.
By the end of the day, it remained unclear whether police would release the arrested traders or keep them in custody over the weekend pending charges of inciting violence. The traders demanded compensation for the losses they suffered, which they blamed on Kiggundu’s construction works.
Godfrey Katongole, one of the leaders of the traders’ unions, said they were registering all affected traders with the aim of presenting their names to the government for compensation.
“As traders, we demand to be compensated. We did not participate in the approval of the construction of the Nakivubo Channel, but it is us now suffering. We cannot allow this to continue,” Katongole said.
Kiggundu was cleared by President Yoweri Museveni to construct the Nakivubo Channel. The project’s artistic impression showed that water would flow through an underground tunnel, while the surface of the covered channel would serve as a leisure space. However, the current construction shows that Kiggundu is instead putting up shops on top of the channel.
Lukwago and Katongole warned that if moderate rains could cause such destruction and loss of life, the situation could worsen when the heavier rains expected in November arrive.
Beyond traders operating near Nakivubo Channel, those in Owino Market also counted heavy losses as floodwaters swept through their stalls. Several clothing vendors said they had never witnessed flooding of such magnitude in their decades of operating at the market.
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