Uganda: Remembering the KCCA Evictions

analysis

July 2015 marked exactly one year since Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Rift Valley Railways (RVR) started evicting encroachers on the railway reserves. The operation left a number of people dead and thousands counting loses. Bulldozers razed homes, business premises, and kiosks along the estimated 20km stretch of land from Banda in east Kampala, to Namuwongo, Ndeeba and Nalukolongo to the west. Sometimes the bulldozers struck at night or early morning, shocking residents awake as their blades tore through tin roofs and mud walls to scatter the pots and pans inside homes. There was wailing, anger, frustration, and tears and sometimes loss of life.

At the time, KCCA and RVR said they were clearing the way to introduce a metro-rail and modernise the railway. The KCCA Executive Director, Jennifer Musisi even launched a commuter train service.

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