Over 260 Houses Encroaching On The Uganda Railway Line In Kasese Face Demolition

By Owen B Alton

About two hundred sixty commercial and residential houses encroaching on the Uganda Railway line in Kasese Municipality risk demolition.

In a press statement accessed by our reporter, the Uganda Railway Corporation clearly states that it has never sold any part of its railway line or land reserves and that settlement or use by any individual or institution is illegal.

The corporation later called for a voluntary vacation from its line and land reserves, or else it would apply the long arm of the law.

In a separate cellphone interview, the Uganda Railway Corporation manager, Mr. Richard Nangalama, said whereas repeated calls for vacation from railway land have never been taken seriously by the affected people in Kasese Municipality and the district at large, tougher interventions await, save for those with land titles who will be compensated.

‘The eviction will affect over 265 households, and they were asked to leave peacefully, but they refused, so they will be forced to move, and only those with land titles will be compensated, said Nangalama.

No much was received from the affected local developers, some of whom are local leaders in shock and unwilling to talk to the press about the situation they blame on those they bought from.

Mr. Adonious Kinyambila, an alleged victim of the intended demolition whose house has been marked X, however, asks the Corporation survey experts to revisit their findings, which he thinks could have unnecessarily implicated him.

Whereas some of those affected still think the corporation will not come soon for demolition, independent sources have whispered to us that a Turkish contractor has already been awarded the contract to concurrently deal with the Malaba-Tororo-Kampala and the Kampala-Kasese lines.

On Monday, August 21, 2023, tears rolled down the cheeks of several residents as URC demolished houses in the Railway Reserve in Cable Village and Namengo Ward, Lugazi Municipality,Buikwe district.