Opposition slams Govt on evictions

Jan 23, 2012

FDC's Dr. Kizza Besigye has slammed govt over several evictions in Kampala that have failed to be replaced by the anticipated projects.

By Simon Masaba                 

 The outgoing Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) president Col Dr. Kizza Besigye has slammed government over several evictions in Kampala that have failed to be replaced by the anticipated projects.

Addressing a rally in Kireka, a Kampala suburb, Besigye claimed that many families are still homeless like the Nakawa-Naguru estate former occupants, whose former land is still vacant.

“What type of greed is this? High costs of living and our government does not care about its citizens to an extent of making them homeless for the benefit of anticipated investors?” Besigye said.

 Besigye added that it is now six months since the Naguru-Nakawa estates were demolished and no activity has ever been done towards redeveloping the area by the investor. 

The former occupants of the estate, mainly civil servants , were last year forcefully evicted in order to give way for an investor to build a housing estate.   

Just like was the case with Shimon Demonstration School which was evicted in favour of an investor, Besigye added, nothing has been constructed at the site yet apart from the iron sheets cordoning off the area.

 Semujju Nganda MP, Kyadondo East and the host of the rally, said “time has come not to fight with guns to lose live,  but to outbeat the poor state in which people are living, and it is the cause of the rallies we are to continue holding.”

 Besigye, who was accompanied by Mathias Mpuuga ( A4C coordinator), Medard SSegona (MP), Lulume Bayiga, Betty Nambooze, Mayor Erias Lukwago, FDC woman league head Ingrid Turinawe , and local musician Harriet Kisakye, said it is the high cost of living in which change is needed.

Commenting over the rally, Kampala metropolitan police spokesperson Ibin Ssenkumbi said the rally was peaceful because the two sides came to mutual understanding on how and where the rally should be held.

He added they [police] heavily deployed along the site, Namugongo road, to hinder interference by hooligans.

 Drama ensued when FDC supporters obstructed Besigye’s car along Kireka –Banda road slowing traffic, forcing police to fire tear gas to disperse the crowd but in vain.

At Spear Motors, anti-riot police was heavily deployed to redirect Besigye from not proceeding to Kampala along Jinja road but To use the Ntinda route instead of using direct route to town through Nakawa.

But Besigye ordered his driver not to move, as the Kampala metropolitan commander Andrew Kaweesi pleaded with Besigye to change course of direction.  Thrice, Besigye eluded police without being traced.

 

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