A fresh storm has erupted up after flashy businessman Hamis Kiggundu aka Ham sealed off sections of the Nakivubo drainage channel as part of his ongoing redevelopment of Nakivubo Stadium, causing LordMayor Erias Lukwago to loose his temper.
The move has left city dwellers, hawkers and politicians spitting fire, with Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago leading the charge, blasting the project as a fraudulent land grab disguised as “development.”
Social media went crazy on Friday after pictures and videos circulated showing parts of the drainage channel barricaded. Reports confirmed that Ham Enterprises had even secured clearance from KCCA to construct new structures on top of the city’s lifeline waterway.
Lukwago didn’t mince his words, calling it a shameful abuse of public property:
“Public property (Nakivubo Drainage channel) fraudulently appropriated by unscrupulous individuals (Ham Enterprises) and you hear some charlatans hyping it as development! Ooh Uganda, may God uphold thee…” Lukwago ranted.
According to him, Kampala is now being run not by elected leaders but by wealthy businessmen and their political backers. He argued that loopholes in the KCCA Act have left ordinary citizens — especially hawkers who once thrived in the Nakivubo belt — completely sidelined, while developers reap big.
But Ham insists the project is a game-changer that will turn downtown Kampala into a modern hub, creating jobs and boosting the economy.
Still, hawkers and small traders are not buying it. Many say they’ve been forcefully pushed out without alternatives, branding the whole redevelopment as “development for the rich only.”
Analysts say this latest standoff sums up the bigger Kampala headache: modernization vs survival of the common man. And this isn’t Ham’s first rodeo — his flashy Nakivubo Stadium facelift has long divided opinion, praised by some as visionary and slammed by others as shady and exclusionary.
Public property (Nakivubo Drainage channel) fraudulently appropriated by unscrupulous individuals(Ham Enterprises) and you hear some charlatans hyping it as development!!!. Ooh Uganda May God Uphold Thee….. pic.twitter.com/QNXZkeXhUA
— Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago (@EriasLukwago_) August 17, 2025
