KCCA Convenes Special Council Meeting over Nakivubo Channel Dispute

KCCA Convenes Special Council Meeting over Nakivubo Channel Dispute

Lord Mayor Arias Lukwago

Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has called a special council meeting to deliberate on the escalating controversy surrounding businessman Hamis Kiggundu’s redevelopment activities along the Nakivubo Drainage Channel.

In a notice dated August 25, 2025, Authority Council Speaker Maala Zahrah Luyirika stated that the meeting will include “communication from the Speaker” and a “discussion of controversies surrounding Nakivubo channel – City Executive Committee, Council of the Authority, and KCCA Management,” before adjournment.

The extraordinary session comes in the wake of President Yoweri Museveni’s directive endorsing Kiggundu’s plan to clean, cover, and redevelop Nakivubo Channel, granting him rights to construct properties above it to recover costs.

While the President hailed the proposal as “imaginative and simple,” Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago has blasted it as illegal and fraudulent, saying Kiggundu lacks approvals from both KCCA and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA).

Last week, KCCA Deputy Executive Director David Kigenyi confirmed that the Authority had instructed Kiggundu to halt all activities that are ongoing without the requisite statutory guidance and permission and to clear debris caused by his actions in order to restore proper storm water flow.

Engineer Apollo Buregyeya warned that covering the channel risks worsening flooding.

With the special sitting, city leaders are expected to openly confront the Nakivubo question — balancing central government support for private-led redevelopment against their mandate to uphold planning laws and environmental safeguards.