Premier Nabbanja, Kampala landlords and tenants agree to resolve rent row

KAMPALA - The prime minister, Robinah Nabbanja, on Monday held an emergency meeting with Landlords and their Tenants in the Kampala Central Business District and resolved an impasse that had started between them.

The meeting took place at the office of the Prime Minister in Kampala on Monday.

Officials at her office revealed that the engagement followed President Yoweri Museveni’s directive to have the issue sorted so that tenants are able to resume normal operations after weeks of disagreements with the landlord.

During the meeting chaired by the Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja, several resolutions were made where it was agreed that all tenants shall continue paying rent at the current approved rates until the next financial year (2026/2027),  a media release from the OPM's press team has revealed.

“Any increment shall be in accordance with section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 2022. Tenants who have already paid the increased rates will have the excess amount treated as an advance rent payment,” the statement read in part.

The landlords represented by Godfrey Kirumira and Tom Kitandwe promised to dialogue with the tenants to avoid confrontations in future.

Representatives of the traders, John Kabanda (FUTA) and Edward Ntale (UATEA UG), lauded the government for what they termed as the timely intervention when they raised the concerns.

John Bosco Suuza, the Director, Legal Advisory Services · Attorney General's Chambers/Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, explained that the current landlord Tenant law addresses all issues raised by the traders.

Hajjati Minsa Kabanda, the minister for Kampala and metropolitan affairs and Salim Uhuru, the Kampala Central mayor, described the meeting as a success.

More resolutions

 Other issues agreed upon were the re-establishment of the Sunday Hawkers day to address challenges being faced by the hawkers.

Hajjati Minsa Kabanda, the minister for Kampala and metropolitan affairs and Salim Uhuru, the Kampala Central mayor, described the meeting as a success.

All tenants shall continue paying rent at the current approved rates until the next financial year (2026/2027). Any increment shall be in accordance with section 26 of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 2022.

Tenants who have already paid the increased rates will have the excess amount treated as an advance rent payment.

Going forward, KCCA shall ensure that all new building plans include provisions for cable installations that allow electricity service cables to extend externally up to the metering point to allow for installation of separate prepaid meters for each user.

Compliance with this requirement shall form part of the criteria for approving commercial building plans.

Landlords shall adopt the EFRIS (Electronic Fiscal Receipting and Invoicing Solution) system and start issuing fiscalized rent receipts to all their tenants as per the Law.
A substation and new transformers will be installed in Kampala to address challenges of load shedding in the Central Business District.

The Landlords and the Tenants shall, in all their dealings, comply with the provisions of the Landlord and Tenant Act of 2022.

A Sub-Committee Chaired by the Deputy Executive Director KCCA with representation from UEDCL, URA, Attorney General's Office, the Kampala Youth Vendors and Hawkers, the G3's, FUTA, UATEA, KAFO, and Kikuubo Traders was constituted to meet regularly and fast-track implementation of the above resolutions.

Among the issues to be discussed is the payment of electricity dues.

The proposal is to have tenants continue paying for electricity at the current rates as the Government completes the transition from Umeme to UEDCL to enable the issuance of a separate meter for every tenant.

The Committee should report back within a period of two weeks from the date of the meeting, specifically on November 1, 20250.