General Kale Kayihura, the Inspector General of Police, says his officers are ready to oversee the demolition the illegal structures sitting on the National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) pipes in Centenary Park.
He made the assurance while appearing before the Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises-COSASE together with the Kampala Metropolitan Police Commander, Frank Mwesigwa on Thursday.
Also in attendance was Jennifer Musisi, the Executive Director Kampala Capital City Authority, Silver Mugisha, the Managing Director National Water and Sewerage Corporation and Godfrey Amooti Nyakana, the Consultant of Nalongo Estate.
The COSASE Chairperson, Abdul Katuntu summoned Kayihura following complaints by KCCA that police had failed to over the eviction of Nalongo Estates from Centenary Park following the expiry of its lease to pave way for key government projects.
On Wednesday, the NWSC MD, Silver Mugisha told COSASE that they had lost Shillings 900 million in contractual obligations because of failure to implement its project in the park.
Mugisha presented a text message to the committee showing that their contractor Santom Sogea Uganda Ltd had abandoned the site citing limited space to work.
Kayihura told the committee he was ready to provide security to enable KCCA to proceed with the demolition exercise as directed by the committee.
Katuntu noted that his committee will not sit back and watch Nalongo Estates hold government entities at ransom and therefore directed NWSC to commence work immediately at the site.
Whereas KCCA has committed to carry out the demolition, Musisi notes that Nalongo Estates must bear the costs in line with the Water Act, which requires a person who erects an illegal structure above water pipes to meet the demolition costs.
In his response, Nyakana said Nalongo Estates is ready to corporate with the government institutions during the exercise and called for civility. Shortly after the committee directive, Silver Mugisha, the Managing Director NWSC, said they now feel empowered to carry on with their work.
Besides NWSC, Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) requires 0.383 acres on land in Centenary park to construct a flyover along Jinja road, UMEME require Plot 34E - 38E measuring 2.311 acres for the construction of a substation. COSASE says that it will continue with the probe on the land row next week to enable progress of the remaining government projects.
