Government to start demolition of old buildings ‘unfit to be on main streets’

The Ugandan government will demolish old and poorly planned buildings along major streets as part of a programme to improve the appearance of Uganda’s cities and towns.

The operation is expected to “begin soon” according to the State Minister for Lands, Housing and Urban Development Persis Namuganza.

The minister said on Thursday that the exercise would begin in Kampala before expanding to other cities, municipalities and towns.

Namuganza announced the plan on Thursday while unveiling the second Uganda Real Estate and Housing Expo. The event will take place at Kingdom Kampala Gardens from September 25 to September 26, 2026.

She said the demolition is part of enforcement of the Physical Planning Act, 2010 and its amendments, which declared the entire country a planning area.

“We shall have no room for houses which are not on plan,” Namuganza said.

Namuganza warned that the government will no longer permit construction of buildings too close to each other without leaving enough space for access, drainage and other essential services.

“We are no longer going to allow houses that are being constructed squeezing one another, leaving just a narrow gap in between,” she said.

Namuganza also cited the Uganda Cities and Municipal Infrastructure Development plan which seeks to improve the appearance of cities, towns and municipalities.

This, she said, would guide the government in identifying buildings that had outlived their usefulness.

“We are not going to spare any house in any city, town or municipality which has outlived its usefulness,” Namuganza said.

“We are also looking closely at houses which are not fit to be on the main streets because they give a bad picture of our cities and towns and how they look. All those houses, we are going to mark them with an X for demolition.”

Owners will be given a chance to redevelop their properties and those who lack money, she said, could seek government support through a public-private partnership arrangement.

The Ministry of Lands has opened a desk where affected property owners can discuss possible partnerships with the government.

“If the developers do not have money to develop them, we have opened up a desk at the ministry. Come and partner with us under a PPP arrangement to develop them,” she said.

“We shall discuss how we can share units, or the government can buy off such properties, but we are no longer going to have houses that have outlived their usefulness.”