A group of Ugandan lawyers and civic activists have taken to the High Court to challenge what they describe as a dangerous, unconstitutional, and illegal encroachment on Kampala’s lifeline drainage system—the Nakivubo Channel. At the center of the dispute is businessman Hamis Kiggundu, aka Ham, whose company Ham Enterprises, is conducting construction works on the protected channel. The Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) are accused of failing in their oversight roles, while the Attorney General has been sued as government’s chief legal representative. The plaintiffs, Naffi Kazinda and Samuel Oola, represented by F….
Storm over Nakivubo: Ham, KCCA, NEMA Dragged to Court over Drainage Channel Encroachment A heated legal battle has erupted in Kampala after lawyers and civic activists sued businessman Hamis Kiggundu (Ham), the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), and the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) over alleged illegal construction works on the Nakivubo Channel, Kampala’s lifeline drainage system. The petitioners warn that the encroachment risks worsening floods, undermining environmental governance, and setting a dangerous precedent for presidential directives overriding statutory procedures.

A photo collage of city businessman Ham Kiggundu, and an artistic impression of a redeveloped Nakivubo channel. Mr. Kiggundu has come under immense pressure for redeveloping the drainage channel without the blessing of local authorities, even after a greenlight from President Museveni.



