Lukwago at the building that collapsed. Photo by Juliet Waiswa

The City Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, has revealed that Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) had halted the construction of the Makindye commercial structure which collapsed on Friday (11 September, 2020) night.

According to KCCA, there was no proper plan and the building property had been confiscated twice, since materials used at the site were substandard.

The building in question is located in Makindye Division - Kelezia zone and belongs to a one Kagolo, whose other name was not yet established.  

By press time the community had rescued one person from the rubble and taken for medical attention. The operation continues in search for other individuals believed to be trapped within.

The KCCA building supervisor Joseph Balikudde and one Ochom have since been arrested by police to support the investigations in the matter.

At the moment KCCA has no substantive director in charge of Physical planning after the end of tenure of Moses Atwine and the arrest of Ivan Katongole who replaced him in acting capacity.

This is the third building to collapse in Makindye division since the outbreak of COVID-19 and this arises out of negligence.

With the KCCA Amendment Act 2019, KCCA is supposed to implement the Building Control Act of 2013 by putting in place the KCCA Building committee.

Lukwago recently appointed Moses Kataabu to represent his executive on the same but unfortunately, it has not been fully constituted.

When contacted on the arrest of it's officer, KCCA spokesperson Daniel NuweAbine could not confirm but said that KCCA enforcement team is working with the police to ensure that the remaining people in the rubbles are removed.