The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director, Hajjat Sharifah Buzeki, has toured flood-affected traders in Kampala to assess the extent of the damage.
On Friday night last week, Kampala and the surrounding metropolitan areas experienced a prolonged heavy downpour that caused flooding in several parts of the city and its suburbs.
Many building arcades in downtown Kampala were submerged in floodwaters, destroying goods and merchandise worth billions of shillings.
Buzeki visited several arcades, including Ssekaziga, Totala, and French Plaza, where she met traders who were trying to organize and salvage their goods that had been soaked in water.
Traders operating shops in the basements of the buildings were seen loading their wet merchandise onto trucks and vacating the waterlogged shops.
Buzeki also visited Nakivubo Settlement Primary School to assess the damage caused by the floods, especially as Primary Seven learners prepare to begin their final examinations across the country on Monday.
During the tour, some vendors said they had heard certain leaders in Kampala blaming them for operating shops in building basements, arguing that basements were originally meant to serve as parking spaces.
Nasser Kagimu, a trader at Ssekaziga Arcade, said all traders with basement shops have been paying KCCA trading licenses and other fees that legally allow them to operate businesses in Kampala.
Victor Mark Makanga, another vendor, said traders now live in fear because the water that remained logged in the buildings for a long time has weakened the structures and caused cracks in the walls, posing a serious safety risk.
Livingstone Ssebulime, a trader dealing in mattresses, blamed Kampala businessman Hamis Kigundu for constructing the Nakivubo Channel without leaving adequate passageways for running water to flow into the main drainage system.
Ssebulime appealed to KCCA and other authorities to halt the ongoing construction works along the channel and attend to the plight of traders who are seeking compensation.
Speaking to journalists after the tour, Hajjat Sharifah Buzeki said that the KCCA technical team will assess the extent of the damage and establish the cause of the floods. She added that the assessment report will guide the authority on the appropriate interventions to support the affected traders.
Storm.water was still logged in some sections of the arcades, making it difficult for traders to remove their goods. Several trucks were seen ferrying soaked items such as mattresses, carpets, and bales of clothes from the arcades to traders’ homes.
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