Pastor Kayanja attacks KCCA over house on the Lake shores
May 12, 2020
Pastor Kayanja said his house, situated at Kawuku Bunga in Makindye Division, is not about to be swallowed up by lake water.
Pastor Robert Kayanja of the Miracle Centre Cathedral, Rubaga has blasted Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) over allegations that he illegally constructed his residential home within the 200-meter radius from the Lake Victoria shoreline.
Pastor Kayanja said his house, situated at Kawuku Bunga in Makindye Division, is not about to be swallowed up by lake water.
He took journalists around his house and compound, saying that just like in developed countries, some individuals feel comfortable building near water, as long as they do not violate any environment.
He disputed statements attributed to KCCA's environmental officer Peter Ssetenda who, together with a team of officials, recently made an assessment tour on the structures affected by the rising water levels in Lake Victoria.
Ssettenda listed a number of residences, which he said would be demolished by KCCA, including the Pastor's house because they were built illegally.
He insisted that the owners did not get permission from KCCA, adding that no permanent structure can be issued with a license to be constructed within 200m from the Lake.
Kayanja's house located in Bunga. Photo by Alfred Ocho
But Pastor Kayanja said he built his house 18 years ago and he obtained a certificate and his house's plan was approved by KCCA.
"KCCA has the mandate to issue licenses to build and they must have seen the place here unless they don't know what they are doing," he said, adding that the same authority marked the roads in the area, which he said were also located within the 200m distance from the lake.
He wondered why if the home and the roads were located in the prohibited areas they did not raise the flag and waited until the lake levels rose.
"It is KCCA that authorised me to build here 18 years ago, whoever is claiming that my house is illegal should go back to the archives to verify the years," he said.
According to Pastor Kayanja, KCCA should know what to do and avoid apportioning blame, which he said would be like shooting in their own foot.
He said he was a law-abiding citizen but dismissed the parameter of 200m that KCCA wanted to base on their judgment of an illegal structure, saying it was mean evicting an entire village.