Things are as bizarre as they can get as Parliament has heard that construction of the Mpigi-Kampala Expressway has stalled because an extended family wants Shs500m to appease the spirits, so that a tree where they reside can be cut to pave way for the road.
Works and Transport Minister Gen. Katumba Wamala told Parliament in a plenary session on Wednesday afternoon that the government made an offer of Shs150m but the family said that the ancestors wouldn’t be amused.
“We don’t take land without compensation an example is a tree along Mpigi-Kla Expressway where one clan says all their spirits are in that one tree. They are asking for Shs500m and we can’t move. They have been offered Shs150m and they say it can’t appease the spirits,” Katumba told Parliament.
Katumba made the remarks while presenting a report on the delay in compensation of Project Affected Persons of the Standard Gauge Railway project.
Katumba told Parliament that construction of the Standard Gauge Railway will commence in 2023 dependent on land acquisition. He used the example of the Mpigi tree, to demonstrate that construction of infrastructure cannot commence until all affected persons are compensated.