Kampala Central parliamentary aspirant Suzan Kushaba has petitioned the World Bank over what she described as the illegal approval of commercial developments along the Nakivubo Channel, warning of environmental damage and disruption to livelihoods in the city’s central business district.
In a letter dated September 19, Kushaba asked the World Bank country office to intervene, citing government ministries, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Parliament, and private developer Hamis Kiggundu of Kiham Enterprises Ltd as responsible for irregular approvals.
‘On behalf of a section of Ugandan business community in Downtown Kampala and other city dwellers. we are petitioning your honorable office to prevail over the government of Uganda,’ she wrote.
She argued that the construction deprives many traders of livelihoods, worsens traffic congestion, and blocks storm water flow during rainy days.
‘Without following the legal requirements. the political team illegally gave out Nakivubo Channel to Kiham Enterprises to erect commercial buildings at the expense of other Ugandans,’ she claimed.
The World Bank previously financed the 1999 Nakivubo Channel Rehabilitation Project with a $19.15 million loan.
Its environmental impact study had recommended measures such as widening the channel, planting trees, realigning its course, and setting up an escrow account for maintenance.
Kushaba questioned whether these safeguards had been observed. She accused city authorities of proceeding without a certificate of environmental impact assessment, a clear working plan, or competitive bidding.
She called on the Bank to halt financing to KCCA ‘until they rectify the anomalies in this project,’ and demanded compensation for traders whose goods were lost to flash floods linked to the developments.
The World Bank did not immediately react to Kushaba’s petition and KCCA spokesperson Daniel Nuwabine declined to comment on the accusations.
On August 22, KCCA itself ordered a halt to works along Nakivubo Channel, citing public concerns over safety and legality. The directive was dismissed, and construction defiantly went ahead.
The controversy has already drawn parliamentary scrutiny. Speaker Anita Among directed a committee inquiry into how KCCA was bypassed, raising questions about Kampala’s urban development policies.
President Museveni, however, endorsed the project in an August 2 letter to the Prime Minister and senior officials, describing it as imaginative and instructing its facilitation.
For Kushaba, the matter now rests with the World Bank. ‘We want guidance about this contentious project likely to impact the climate of Kampala,’ she wrote.