Court says KCCA has constitutional duty to reduce life-threatening roads, poor drainage
In a judgment dated October 1, 2025, Justice Michael Elubu directed KCCA to report to Parliament within three months on the progress it has made to ensure that the issues are addressed.
The Justice Michael Elubu said Kampala city dwellers have a right to expect KCCA to put in place measures that protect their right to life, property and a clean and safe environment. (File photo)
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The Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala has directed Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) to ensure that the dangers posed by unsafe roads, open drainage channels, sewers and manholes are addressed.
In a judgment dated October 1, 2025, Justice Michael Elubu directed KCCA to report to Parliament within three months on the progress it has made to ensure that the issues are addressed.
The judge ordered that the report should include a comprehensive maintenance plan.
The directive follows a case filed by the Legal Brains Trust (LTB) Limited against KCCA and the Attorney General following the death of one Cissy Namukasa in the drainage. LTB is owned by the Uganda Law Society president, Isaac Semakadde.
Namukasa, on a rainy May 2020 afternoon, drowned in an open manhole in Nakawa, Kampala.
LTB also enumerated several incidents within Kampala city where people have drowned in the drainage channels as a result of flooding occasioned by rainfall.
According to court documents, on September 4, 2011, a bodaboda rider carrying a passenger identified as Brenda Omuntu Katiti, a cashier at Barclays Bank Katwe, drowned in an open water channel at Kalitunsi Stage near Clock Tower in Kampala.
Court documents further show that Irene Nakato, on November 24, 2014, drowned in a secondary channel in Kawempe, one of the Divisions under the management, control and supervision of KCCA.
“KCCA states that it has a comprehensive drainage master plan for Kampala city. The sheer breadth of time the accidents mentioned in this case shows that the urgency that the issue requires has never been addressed. The magnitude of the loss of life is staggering. Even now, the matter remains a plan awaiting execution,” he observed.
The judge noted that KCCA cannot control extreme weather events, but it has a constitutional duty to mitigate any life-threatening outcomes.
“As seen, there is no plan in place to show what mitigation to control the effects of the flooding. Instead, the manner of response shows that the respondent has contributed to the danger from the way it manages the drainage, sewers or from the current road design,” he noted.
The judge said Kampala city dwellers have a right to expect KCCA to put in place measures that protect their right to life, property and a clean and safe environment.
He, however, observed that the pictures of the drainage submitted in court illustrate filthy, unkempt drainage channels overrun with refuse, an indication that there is a lack of routine cleaning, which would fit the description of maintenance. Additionally, the judge said the drainage is exposed.
The judge further observed that there is hardly any demarcation between the road and the drain.
“In the event of heavy rain, a pedestrian or vehicle can be easily swept into the drain,” he said.
Elubu also said that Kampala city dwellers have an obligation not to litter the channels and that KCCA should enforce the statutory duties to maintain order, and to pay local taxes to fund the cleaning and maintenance of the drainage channels.
He, therefore, ruled that KCCA have infringed the right to life; to protection from deprivation of property; and to a safe and clean environment of Kampala city dwellers.