Man Jose Kayima
Shs500m tree was on Thursday evening uprooted by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and China Railway 19th Bureau Group Company, the contractors of the Busega-Mpigi Expressway.
The tree known as Nabukalu was sitting on 0.083-acre piece of land at Mabuye Village in Mpigi. It belonged to Lugave (Pangolin) Clan in the Buganda Kingdom and was always visited by clan members for blessings. It is believed to have been 100 years old.
The uprooting which took over four hours was done hours after court in Mpigi ruled in favour of UNRA and ordered that government should pay the caretakers Shs4.6m instead of Shs500m that they were asking for as compensation.
Earlier this week while appearing before the Parliament minister Gen.Edward Katumba Wamala stated that government was offering members of the clan Shs150m but they insisted on Shs500m.
Meanwhile, the road project kicked off in May 2020 was expected to be complete in May this year, but construction works has been halted due to unresolved land wrangles.
