KAMPALA – Police on Sunday, May 24, 2020 to disperse hundreds of people who were protesting the closure of Mulungu beach in Makindye Division, Kampala.
The beach was closed on the orders of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) after it was inundated following the rising water levels on Lake Victoria.
Police battled the defiant vendors who were refusing to leave the area despite the KCCA director of health services of KCCA, Dr. Daniel Okello, on April 23, 2020 ordered them out.
Dr Okello had warned that flooding at the beach was likely to cause cholera outbreak and other related diseases.
As police cordoned off the area, the vendors led by area MP Allan Ssewanyana insisted on returning their property into the market.
This forced police to fire teargas while vendors retreated and started throwing stones at the officers.
Mr Ssewanyana told journalists that KCCA was using the floods excuse to evict the vendors.
“This place has had a long standing land conflict where tycoons want to take this land through KCCA and BLB. We will however fight on so that our people are not deprived of their working space,” he said.
Mulungu beach is located in Munyonyo. It is a few minutes’ drive from Kampala city through Salaama Road or Kabalagala-Kansanga. It sits on 3-4 acres. The place is managed and controlled by Buganda kingdom, whose representative, commonly known as Nakawere, oversees the place and is in charge of collecting funds on behalf of Buganda’s treasury.