By Ismail Bategeka
www.mknewslink.com
In Wakiso—-
Tension remains high in Masana Village, Kyengera Town Council, as police maintain a heavy deployment to facilitate the eviction of more than 1,000 people occupying land reserved for railway operations.
Some of the affected residents, many of them women and widows with children, say they have nowhere else to go as the Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) moves to reclaim the land.
The residents had earlier petitioned President Museveni, asking him to grant them at least two years to find alternative accommodation. However, their appeal has so far yielded no positive response, leaving many uncertain about their future.
One of the affected residents, Ms Juliet Nabuguzi, said the eviction would leave vulnerable families struggling to find shelter and care for their children.
“We are widows, we have kids. Where are we going to take care of these kids from? We do not even have villages. We request the President to look into this situation and help us,” Ms Nabuguzi said.
For the affected families, the exercise threatens to disrupt their livelihoods and leave them searching for alternative accommodation, with some questioning where they will turn once they are forced to leave the land.
The eviction is part of a wider government effort to reclaim public land reserved for railway infrastructure and operations across the country.
The Uganda Railways Corporation has started the exercise along the Kampala-Kasese railway corridor, beginning with Kyengera Town Council in Wakiso District before extending it to other areas along the route.
URC spokesperson John Ssegendo said the exercise commenced on October 19, with Kyengera being the first area targeted along the western railway line.
“We are commencing today, October 19, and we are starting with the Kampala-Kasese corridor,” Mr Ssegendo said.
He said the exercise would later extend to Mityana, Mubende and Kamwenge before reaching Kasese.
The railway corporation is also dealing with encroachment on other railway corridors, with thousands of people reportedly occupying land reserved for railway operations.
According to the figures provided by the corporation, the Kampala metropolitan railway corridor had close to 2,500 encroachers, while the western line had about 620.
The eastern railway line, which runs from Mukono to Malaba, had more than 2,000 encroachers, while the northern line, stretching from Tororo to Gulu, had 4,598.
The figures highlight the scale of the challenge facing the corporation as it seeks to recover railway land for public use.
However, in Masana Village, the exercise has left affected families facing an uncertain future, with residents such as Ms Nabuguzi appealing to the President to intervene and give them time to find alternative places to live.
