Open manhole: KCCA ordered to pay Shs 35m to injured woman
The High court in Kampala has found Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) guilty of negligence after it left an open manhole in Lugogo along Jinja Road which caused life-threatening injuries sustained by Rebecca Mayanja Nalule in 2018.
As such justice Musa Ssekaana ordered the KCCA to compensate Nalule with Shs 35 million and also cover the costs of the lawsuit. The ruling follows a lawsuit filed by Nalule against KCCA in 2020, where she claimed that she fell into an uncovered manhole near Shoprite Supermarket and Rugby Grounds.
She argued that KCCA failed in its duty of care by leaving the manhole open and not providing adequate street lighting. As a result, Nalule fell into the manhole on June 9, 2018, at around 7.30 pm and suffered injuries to her body and internal organs that affected her health and livelihood, including the operations of her restaurant, Stomach Clinic.
Nalule told court that when she sent her daughter to take pictures of the fateful manhole, she found it freshly covered by KCCA agents. However, KCCA denied the incident, asserting that all manholes along the area were covered at the time of the alleged accident.
The authority also claimed that there was no evidence of renovation works around the period Nalule cited. However, Nalule's legal team, led by Nicholas Ssenkumbi, maintained that KCCA failed to meet its statutory obligations under the Kampala Capital City Act, which mandates maintaining roads, drains, and streetlights.
In his ruling, justice Ssekaana found KCCA liable for negligence. He stated that KCCA had been conducting roadworks under a solicitation project but failed to ensure the manholes were covered or to place warning signs.
“The defendant/KCCA was carrying out some works on the road under a solicitation project and it was duty bound to cover those manholes or put signs/barriers to alert road users or city dwellers about the eminent risk and danger. The failure to take reasonable steps to warn the public was a breach of duty," said Ssekaana.
While the court acknowledged Nalule’s injuries, it expressed reservations about the evidence of the extent of her injuries. Justice Ssekaana pointed out that Nalule initially sought treatment at a pharmacy instead of a hospital, making it difficult to establish a comprehensive diagnosis of her injuries.
“The plaintiff was pulled out of the manhole and they took her to Wilson Street at a Pharmacy and not a hospital for proper diagnosis to assess the injury. It appears later she was taken to hospital at Wakiso and was managed for several ailments some of which appear not to have been related to the fall in the manhole,” added Ssekaana.
Precedents of negligence
This ruling adds to a history of legal actions against KCCA for failing to maintain city infrastructure. In November 2021, justice Michael Elubu ruled in favour of Legal Brain Trust, which had sued KCCA and the government for failing to protect Kampala residents from unsafe roads, drainage systems, and related infrastructure. This lawsuit followed the death of a 56-year-old vendor, Cissy Namukasa, who drowned in a drainage channel in Nakawa Division during a storm in 2020.
Justice Elubu ordered KCCA to submit a comprehensive report to parliament within three months, detailing its efforts to address health and safety hazards posed by unsafe infrastructure. It remains unclear whether KCCA complied with this directive. Critics argue that the persistent negligence by KCCA highlights systemic failures in city management and prioritization of safety measures.
