Three confirmed dead after storied building collapses in Kawempe

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Uganda Police Force on Saturday reported recovering three bodies from the debris of a storied building that collapsed in Kisota Zone, Kawempe Division, Kampala district on Friday.

The deceased, all male, believed to be workers on the site builders were retrieved from the debris on June 6 during a search by personnel from the Directorate of Fire Prevention and Rescue Services.

"We have recovered three remains of people suspected to have been construction workers. The search is ongoing to recover any other survivors or remains. Rescue operations continue to ensure that all reported missing persons are accounted for", Kawala said in an interview with New Vision. She revealed that detectives at Kira Road Police Division are probing the case. 

On Friday, police announced they had rescued nine victims after the building under construction collapsed at 1:00 pm.

On Saturday, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director Sharifah Buzeki and Lord Mayor Eng. Ronald Balimwezo Nsubuga visited the site. Buzeki said the culprits, who included the site engineer and the owner of the building, would face the law.

Experts at the National Building Review Board, a corporate body under the Ministry of Works and Transport, established to monitor building developments, and ensure that the design and construction comply with the law, are also expected to probe the incident.

“Our attention has been drawn to a building collapse in Kisota zone, Kikaaya parish, Kawempe Division. Investigations into the cause of this accident have commenced,” reads a post on the NBRB social site X.

The incident comes hardly two months after President Yoweri Museveni in April this year, assented to the Building Control (Amendment) Act, 2026, which gives regulators stronger powers to enforce safety standards, including the authority to demolish unsafe structures.

The law granted the NBRB more powers to ensure building standards are not breached.

Under the new law, negligence, if proved whether during construction or in completed buildings, now carries fines of up to sh10 million or 12 years in prison, or both. Building without a permit, continuing construction after expiry, or using prohibited methods now attracts fines calculated per square metre, dramatically raising the cost of non-compliance, among other penalties.