KAMPALA: Since the beginning of April, Kampala city and its surrounding districts have been receiving heavy rainfall during morning and evening hours.
This has caused heavy flooding mostly in wetlands, affecting transport business and housing sector. In some areas like Sembule zone, Rubaga division, some tenants have been forced to vacate houses due to endless floods.
Ali Kaddu, a bodaboda cyclist is one of the tenants who have shifted to Natete, another city suburb, fearing that the heavy floods might kill his family members.
“I had no option but to get another house. Whenever it rained, water was submerging the house. It destroyed some of my house property,” Kaddu laments.
This problem is caused by the delay to complete the construction of Nalukolongo Drainage Channel. Kampala Capital City Authority is supposed to construct the channel and evict people residing near it after compensating them. But the project failed to kick off due to lack of funds to compensate the local residents.
During the rainy seasons city suburbs of Natete, Ndeeba, Nalukolongo and some parts of Rubaga are regularly flooded with the blocked channels spilling into people’s houses.
“Whenever it rains, some people drown in this Nalukolongo drainage channel,” said Ruth Namutebi, a market vendor at Nalukolongo market.
This is the same problem residents of Banda, Kireka, Wakiso district face. In the city centre, especially at clock towers, it normally floods. This area is very dangerous to those using bodaboda cycles.
Roads in these are also impassable during the rainy seasons, making the taxis drivers who risk to go there, hike the fares.
Master plan
“But this year, KCCA has drawn a new Master plan for the city’s drainage system to mitigate floods and its effects. The Mater Plan requires sh720bn to implement it”, Dr. Micheal Kizza, KCCA Manager in charge of Drainage said
International Development Agency under the World Bank is ready to fund the project.
The funds, Kizza said will be used to work on the drainage channels of Nalukolongo, Kansanga, Nakivubo, Ggaba and Kinawataka.
“The Master Plan will incorporate the social aspects and the role of the different stakeholders in the flood risk management,” Kizza said.
Due to different land scape in the identified areas, Kizza explained that the authority will use integrated Flood Management IFM approach.
To implement this, Kizza said KCCA will have to involve the local communities by creating awareness.
