Historical Jinja road cemetery rehabilitated

By Chris Kiwawulo                     

KAMPALA - In a bid to protect the peace of the dead, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has put up a wall fence to bar trespassers from the Jinja road cemetery.

Many people have been seen walking in and out of the open cemetery at will because it was open, with no fence like many other cemeteries in the city.

However, workers from Muga Services construction firm have since the beginning of this year been seen excavating around the cemetery and putting up a wall structure.

KCCA spokesperson Peter Kaujju said they contracted Muga Services to erect a perimeter wall around the cemetery at sh269m because the cemetery fence was dilapidated.

“We are fencing the cemetery to ensure that no one disturbs the peace of the dead.”

Kaujju revealed that the contractor will also clear the debris of the collapsed fence from the cemetery, excavate and construct a foundation with a column base as well as fabricate and fix metal grills on top of the fence.

He dismissed allegations that KCCA had leased out the cemetery to a private developer.

The cemetery is a historical treasure as it is a burial site for some World War II heroes and colonial rulers.

In August 2006, a Ugandan investor Humphrey Nsereko through his company, Ham-Kag Limited, approached then-Kampala City Council (KCC) with a plan to construct a shopping mall and apartments at the Jinja road cemetery.

The developer had proposed to exhume and relocate the bodies.

The idea sparked off public debate and the city authorities came out to deny ever leasing out the cemetery to any developer.

The then Town Clerk, James Sseggane, admitted that they had received Nsereko’s proposal but said it was rejected. Nsereko had also applied to take over the Parsi Cemetery along Lugogo Bypass.