Museveni promises To ‘correct Ham Kiggundu mistake’

President Yoweri Museveni last night pledged government support for traders whose goods were destroyed in last week’s floods in downtown Kampala.

Museveni assured in a message that any mistakes linked to construction over Nakivubo Channel would be “corrected.” 

He directed Minister of State for General Duties Justine Kasule Lumumba to chair a meeting with the affected traders, and other stakeholders later today. 

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja who was supposed to chair the meeting, he said, was out of the country. 

“If it is Ham… because they are saying that it was Ham who built on the Nakivubo Channel, we shall get the facts and correct the mistake.”

Heavy rains on Friday, October 31, 2025 inundated arcades and streets near the Nakivubo drainage, with traders reporting extensive losses. 

Media and official accounts over the weekend and Monday detailed flooded shops and traffic disruption across the central business district. 

Up to four fatalities were reported as emergency crews responded in the inner city.

The flooding has intensified scrutiny of works associated with businessman Hamis “Ham” Kiggundu. 

Two traders’ associations—KATA and UNATA—on Monday filed a suit in the High Court against Kiggundu, his company Kiham Enterprises Ltd, the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), alleging illegal construction on the channel that obstructed storm water and damaged businesses.

KCCA leaders met representatives of the affected traders yesterday at City Hall. 

Executive Director Sharifah Buzeki and Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago said a follow-up meeting with the Prime Minister is expected today, Tuesday, to agree next steps. Planned interventions include dispatching a verification team to assess individual losses, with landlord sign-off, to inform possible compensation.

Debate over the project predates the floods. 

In August, the President wrote to the Prime Minister describing Kiggundu’s proposal to cover and reinforce the channel as “imaginative,” and backed it in principle—an approval now central to the traders’ lawsuit and the wider public discussion.