President Museveni’s brother, Toyota Kaguta, has blamed the persistent flooding in Kampala on government agencies, particularly the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
Kaguta argued that the root cause of the flooding is the licensing of buildings in wetlands, which he attributed to the negligence of NEMA and KCCA rather than the ruling government.
“It is not true that the NRM government is responsible for the floods in Kampala. The real culprits are KCCA, which approves building plans in wetlands, and NEMA, which issues licenses for construction in areas meant for water drainage,” he stated.
He criticized NEMA for what he called selective enforcement of the law, accusing the agency of demolishing properties belonging to the poor while sparing those owned by wealthy individuals, who he said were the real culprits in blocking drainage channels.
“NEMA demolishes the properties of poor people while leaving those belonging to the so-called big people. When you look at buildings like Forest Mall, you feel ashamed,” he added.
Kaguta called on the government to take decisive action by demolishing structures like Forest Mall, which he claims were illegally built in drainage areas.
He went further to urge Ugandans to take matters into their own hands if responsible authorities fail to act.
“I appeal to Ugandans to spearhead the demolition of such buildings if the government agencies responsible for approving construction in wetlands do not act. I don’t like things that make the government look bad in the eyes of the people,” he emphasized.
The comments come on the backdrop of a heavy downpour on Wednesday morning that left a trail of destruction in Kampala.
