Three injured by Jinja city building under demolition
Feb 16, 2024
Kiira Police region spokesperson James Mubi confirmed the Thursday incident which occurred on plot 2, Nizam Street East at 3:00 PM.
James Mubi,the Kiira regional police spokesperson. (Photos by Jackie Nambogga)
Jackie Nambogga
Journalist @New Vision
______________________ The building which collapsed on people ahead of being demolished in Jinja city on Thursday.
A building that was under demolition in the heart of Jinja city has collapsed, injuring two casual laborers said to be executing their work.
Kiira Police region spokesperson James Mubi confirmed the Thursday incident which occurred on plot 2, Nizam Street East at 3:00 PM.
He said the property owner, Hajji Muhamad Lubega had secured a demolition permit to bring down the dilapidated facility.
The building was housing Tata Owen supermarket until mid-December last year when the business was shifted to a new building on Nizam Street West.
According to Mubi, three people including a woman who was walking by the verandah of the facility as she returned from shopping were rushed to Jinja Regional Referral Hospital after sustaining injuries.
They included Samali Nambubi, Muhammad Kasozi, and one Frank. Both Kasozi and Frank were inside the premises.
No lives lost
However, Mubi refuted earlier claims which went viral that lives had been lost.
“We want to clarify that no one was killed in the collapsed building but three sustained injuries,” Mubi said, adding that the two other casual laborers: Alex Odeke and one Wizard escaped unhurt.
“We have proved that the owner of the site obtained a demolition permit which the men at the site were executing,” he said.
Building control office concerns
The Jinja city council authorities had on the fateful day served Lubega with a letter stopping any building operations.
In a February 15, 2024 letter from the building control office, Lubega was faulted for not taking corrective measures required by the building committee while demolishing the facility.
A city council official who declined to be named wondered why the demolition took place without cordoning off the place.
He described this as being careless which led to Nambubi who was passing by being injured.
City littered with old buildings
Joel Mutalya, a farmer from Budondo, regretted that Jinja City still has old buildings that need to be condemned.
“We don’t know why technocrats prefer being in the comfort zone instead of doing their work, the buildings just opposite the city council headquarters are enough to prove my concern because they are in a sorry state,” he noted.
Mutalya said if the officials fail to act, Jinja was likely to record deaths as a result of buildings collapsing on occupants.
Meanwhile, Mubi said police would be working closely with the National Building Review Board (NBRB) and city authority to ensure that all buildings within the city and Jinja district exist according to the laws.
The NBRB is mandated to monitor all building developments in the country as its key role among others.
Mubi emphasized that whoever wishes to make any modification to their buildings has to follow the procedure according to the 2013 Building Control Act and the Building Control Regulations 2020.
Falling debris death
In October last year, one person was killed opposite the Thursday scene by falling debris.
Cryspus Matamba, 28, died on the spot leaving James Okrut and Brian Wataka with injuries.
The three who were all employees of an audit firm within Jinja town were shielding themselves from being rained on only to be hit by falling debris from an incomplete three-story building that had been abandoned for years following the death of its owner.
City authorities temporarily closed this building until an engineering interpreter audit was conducted which proved that the building was habitable leading to the resumption of business at the premises.
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