Robert Mukalazi the Owino market youth chairperson and Kamada Bukenya the market spokesperson have confirmed to Ono Bwino that businessman Hamis Kiggundu paid a number of traders who were operating on the buildings which he allegedly demolished on Sunday night.
Exclusively speaking to this reporter, Mukalazi stated that in October 2025, they received information that Kiggundu is interested in part of the market which is near Nakivubo drainage channel which is under development and they immediately started lobbying on how to engage him.
He said that in the engagements with the businessman’s henchmen, they discovered that they were operating on the buildings which are seated on Nakivubo drainage channel land title which president Museveni allowed him to develop and the only option was for them to accept whatever offer he was giving them or they lose everything.
“Many of us were paid Shs3m each to help us to pay rent at another place and we were also promised that after the area developed, we will get special consideration on getting shops to operate our businesses. It was a good deal and we accepted it,” Mukalazi said
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He said that on Sunday, they vacated their goods from the affected buildings and others who were still resisting the deal were advised by the market master with immediate effect to remove their things noting that the building was going to be demolished
Suzan Kushaba the former Owino market leader said that she learnt about the development of demolishing the market at 6pm and immediately started contacting concerned Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) leaders to intervene and save the situation because some of the traders were not informed about the demolishing and were going to lose their goods
The demolition started at 8pm and minutes later, KCCA Executive Director Hajat Sharif Buzeki come to the scene but kept a distance while she was asking for more enforcement because the military and police officers on the ground were more than those who had accompanied her.
After getting a good number of armed men and contacting responsible government officials, she stormed the ground and ordered them to withdraw.
“I was there undercover watching whatever going on, that woman Buzeki is strong, they argued for minutes while she was also talking to other people on the phone. After Ham’s men withdraw, those who were operating the excavators were handcuffed and put on a military patrol,” Kushaba said
Even though the demolition of the market was halted, Mukalazi insists that Kiggundu is going to develop the area at all cost because he has paid traders who were operating on the said buildings and kiosks and negotiations are still ongoing to settle individuals claiming to be landlords of the said buildings.
Joseph Lwanga one of the directors of St. Balikuddembe Market Stalls and Lock up Shop Owners Association (SLOA) told Ono Bwino that they have already instructed their lawyers to take legal action against Kiggundu because the buildings he demolished was owned by them not the traders who he compensated.
He claims that SLOA is still demanding Shs4.2bn from government as compensation for taking up their market even though Mukalazi insists that SLOA under the leadership of Godfrey Nkajja Kayongo wanted to grab government market insisting that the said land is owned by government not private individuals.
This website understands that Kiggundu has a big plan of developing the area and after finishing Owino market, he will proceed to Kisekka market to Luzira in Nakawa division following the Nakivubo channel stretch
Kampala outgoing Lord Mayor Ssalongo Erias Lukwago pleaded to fellow city political leaders to join him and fight for poor people from being thrown out of the city, however sources close to Kiggundu confirmed to this reporter that a number of political leaders were the first to be sorted out.
“Apart from Lukwago and few city councillors, most leaders were handled. All those National Unity Platform (NUP) councillors including the newly elected Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo received the man’s blessings,” a source said.
It should be remembered that Balimwezo supported Kiggundu on building a top Nakivubo drainage channel and argued that this is a practice internationally.
