Former Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Executive Director Dorothy Kisaka and Deputy Executive Director Eng. David Luyimbazi Ssali have been committed to the High Court to face 57 charges of manslaughter and causing death or harm through negligence, following the collapse of the Kiteezi Landfill on August 10, 2024.
The charges stem from the deaths and injuries caused by the landfill’s failure, which prosecutors allege was entirely preventable. A 45-page summary of evidence submitted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) details multiple internal and external warnings issued between December 2023 and July 2024, which the accused allegedly ignored.
The landfill, opened in 1996 and designed for a 10-year lifespan, remained operational well beyond 2013 without a valid license. NEMA had declined to renew the license due to safety and environmental risks, but waste collection continued. By 2024, Kiteezi was receiving over 450,000 tons annually, far exceeding its capacity.
Prosecutors say essential maintenance practices, including daily compaction and leachate treatment, were abandoned after 2015, despite a UGX 3.1 billion annual budget. Reports predicting collapse were ignored. Emergency funding was approved only after the disaster.
Kisaka and Luyimbazi are accused of failing in their statutory duties, leading to deaths, injuries, and property damage. The prosecution will present technical reports, postmortems, internal KCCA communication, and police investigations at trial. Both have been declared fit to stand trial and are currently out on bail.
All three top KCCA officials, including Dr. Daniel Okello (later cleared), were removed from office in 2024 by President Museveni following recommendations by the Inspectorate of Government.
The High Court trial date is yet to be set.
