The Leader of the Opposition, Joel Ssenyonyi has called on the government to inform Parliament about the measures being implemented to improve Kampala's deteriorating drainage system.
This comes a day after at least seven people lost their lives in severe flooding that struck the city early Wednesday morning, leaving many others displaced.
During Thursday plenary, Ssenyonyi attributed the flooding to inadequate drainage and pressed the government for answers regarding the actions being taken to prevent such incidents in the future.
"Government needs to update this House on what is happening to avert these happenings because the causes are known, poor drainage. We see buildings come up in Kampala, every corner we don't know who approves them, many of them haven't planned for drainage," Ssenyonyi said.
He added, "We have seen KCCA and some people in Government go after poor people in some areas like Lubigi, but there are some powerful people that are not touched like in Namanve, which used to be a water catchment area but it is entirely gone. We are seeing factories, hotels approved by Government,"
The Kampala Metropolitan Police confirmed on Wednesday that heavy rainfall led to widespread destruction, sweeping away homes, vehicles, and residents.
The floods also disrupted traffic, rendering many roads in Kampala impassable.
Ssenyonyi urged the government to learn from the recent extreme heatwave that affected the country and to take proactive measures to address the current flooding situation to protect lives.
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"A couple of days back, we were here and we were discussing the heatwave which had become very problematic, some colleagues reported of deaths in their Constituencies, people were collapsing and dying because of the extreme heat and we were tasking Government to deal with that situation. Now we are at the opposite side of the lane with very heavy rains that are causing flooding," noted Ssenyonyi.
Chairing the plenary, the Deputy Speaker, Thomas Tayebwa emphasized the importance of responsible and sustainable environmental practices to prevent disasters like the flooding experienced on Wednesday along the Lake Victoria Basin.
Tayebwa highlighted that such disasters do not discriminate based on whether individuals are protecting or harming the environment.
"Yesterday morning, various parts of the Lake Victoria Basin received heavy rains which caused flooding in some places and subsequently hindered mobility and we even lost lives, I was checking in the media that we lost 5-7 and more people are injured. It was very unfortunate, what happened yesterday," Tayebwa noted.
"Such climate induced occurrences are a reminder of the need for responsible and sustainable environment and natural resource use for each and every one of us. At the end of the day, natural disasters don't discriminate because whether you are looking after nature or not, they will come for you." the Deputy Speaker added.
Tayebwa's remarks follow Parliament's recent approval of Shs3.267Bn in Supplementary Budget funding, to support Internal Security Organisation (ISO) to carry out operations to stop citizens from abusive use of wetlands.
