The ‘sacred tree’ along the pigi- Kampala Expressway that had stalled the construction of the road, has finally been cut down. According to reports, it took the excavator operator four hours to cut it down.
On Wednesday, the Minister of Works and Transport Gen. Katumba Wamala told Parliament about the ‘sacred tree’ that a certain clan refused the authorities to demolish claiming it was harboring the clan spirits.
He further disclosed that the government offered the said family Shs150m which they rejected claiming that the money can’t appease the spirits. The family instead demanded Shs500m.
But on Thursday, the Court in Mpigi ruled in favour of Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) stating that the claimant Hussein Katamba should instead be given Shs4.6m that was initially offered for his 0.083-acre piece of land on which the tree is found.
Following the court ruling, contractors at the construction site uprooted the tree last evening.