By Witness Radio Team.
The World Bank, Accountability Mechanism has granted the Parties involved in a dispute resolution case in Uganda an additional six months with expectations of achieving better mediation in the ongoing dispute resolution between the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and the Projected Affected Person.
According to the brief by World Bank Accountability Mechanism Secretary, Ms. Orsolya Szekely, the DRS extended the dispute resolution process which was supposed to end in December 2022, to six months which began this January 2023. Orsolya believes the added time will help all the parties resolve their differences.
The World Bank Accountability Mechanism is an independent complaints mechanism for people and communities who believe that they have been or are likely to be harmed by a World Bank-funded project.
The extension follows the failure to negotiate between the two parties in one-year-long negotiations of the dispute resolution process which started in December 2021.
The Kampala Capital City Authority is implementing the Lubigi drainage Channel expansion project under the KIIDP-2 with funding from the World Bank.
On December 3, 2020, the Kawaala communities were shocked to find KCCA representatives in their village, accompanied by armed police officers, distributing eviction notices and informing residents that they had 28 days to vacate their homes. A few days later, for instance, in the wee hours of 05th/12/2020, the community started experiencing attacks by armed anti-riot police and workers of the construction company; destroying properties, without any prior consultation or plan for compensation and resettlement.
In a bid to find justice, in June 2021, the affected community filed a complaint with the World Bank’s Inspection Panel raising concerns about forced evictions during COVID-19.
According to the complaint filed against KCCA, the implementor of the KIIDP-2 project excluded the affected community from benefiting from the Project’s Resettlement Plan (RAP) and instead resorted to the use of force to have them evicted. Following the intervention of the World Bank, KCCA conducted another Project’s Resettlement Plan. However, according to the affected community, the process was rushed and intended to promote inequality.
The project is marred with retaliatory attacks from people believed to be project implementers against project affected community.
The Accountability Mechanism’s operating procedures allow for a one-year period for all parties to resolve, with a six-month extension period in case parties fail to reach an amicable understanding.
