How NUP’s Zahara Luyirika Was Bribed With Shs 300M To Pass Over Nakivubo Channel To Ham Kiggundu – Traders Cry Out

When the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) Council convened on 3 April 2025, few expected that the day’s business would reshape one of Kampala’s most vital public infrastructures — the Nakivubo Channel, a drainage lifeline protecting the city from floods. But when the council voted to hand control of the project to city tycoon Hamis Kiggundu (Ham), shock rippled through the capital.

This was not a routine administrative handover. It was a transfer of public power and property into private hands, done with lightning speed and questionable transparency. At the heart of this controversial process stood KCCA Speaker Zahara Luyirika, now a rising political figure and aspirant for Makindye West Member of Parliament under the National Unity Platform (NUP) banner.

For a leader whose political brand has long been built on accountability, transparency, and people-centered governance, Luyirika’s conduct during the Nakivubo Channel handover has ignited serious concern. Her stewardship of that council meeting — and her silence in its aftermath — raise uncomfortable questions about her judgment, independence, and loyalty to the public interest.

The Speed and Secrecy Behind the Nakivubo Decision

According to several councillors who attended the April session, the motion to transfer Nakivubo Channel to Ham Kiggundu was rushed through with minimal debate. The proceedings, chaired by Luyirika, reportedly lacked clear justification, environmental impact assessments, and public consultation.

The Nakivubo drainage system is not just a construction project — it is Kampala’s primary flood-control artery, affecting thousands of residents in Katwe, Kisenyi, Makindye, and beyond. Yet under Luyirika’s watch, this public lifeline was quietly shifted into private control, leaving communities vulnerable to worsening floods and repeated displacement.

Today, those same neighbourhoods are living with the consequences: clogged channels, stagnant water, and homes swallowed by seasonal floods. For many residents, these are not natural disasters — they are man-made crises born out of political negligence.

The Allegations That Won’t Go Away

Adding fuel to public mistrust are widespread allegations of corruption surrounding the April 2025 KCCA session. Reports from civil society groups and local whistleblowers claim that some councillors received financial inducements to back the motion. While no formal charges have yet been filed, the allegations persist — and at the very least, they cast a long shadow over the credibility of the entire process.

As Speaker, Zahara Luyirika was the presiding authority. She bore the responsibility to uphold integrity, demand scrutiny, and ensure accountability. But rather than confronting the storm head-on, she has largely remained silent, choosing instead to describe the transaction as a routine council decision with “broad consensus.”

But consensus built on secrecy and suspicion is no consensus at all.

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### The Shs 300 Million Question

One of the most troubling claims, reported by local watchdogs, is that Luyirika herself allegedly received Shs 300 million from Ham Kiggundu following the council decision. These reports remain unverified, but they have circulated widely within political and civic circles, raising legitimate public concern.

For a politician preparing to contest for Parliament, such allegations — whether proven or not — demand an immediate and transparent response. Yet Luyirika has not called for an independent investigation or offered a detailed account of her involvement. Her reluctance to engage has only deepened suspicion and eroded trust among the electorate.

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### When Promises Collide with Reality

As she tours Makindye West, Luyirika paints herself as a reformer, a champion of the ordinary citizen. Yet, her record in the Nakivubo saga tells a different story — one of expediency over ethics, and procedure over principle.

Residents of Makindye, Kisenyi, and Katwe — the very communities she seeks to represent — continue to pay the price for that April decision: destroyed homes, lost livelihoods, and declining faith in city governance. The contrast between her campaign message and her actual performance in office is too stark to ignore.

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### Leadership Under Question

Leadership is not defined by eloquent speeches or political slogans. It is measured by how one responds when integrity is questioned. And on that front, Luyirika’s silence has been deafening.

No one is accusing her of wrongdoing without evidence. But the standard of public office demands more than the absence of conviction — it demands the presence of courage. Courage to confront allegations, courage to open investigations, and courage to stand by the truth, even when it is inconvenient.

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### Makindye West Deserves Better

The people of Makindye West must ask themselves a simple but vital question: can they trust Zahara Luyirika to defend the public interest in Parliament when she has failed to do so at KCCA?

Before granting her another mandate, voters should demand a full accounting of the Nakivubo decision — who benefited, who authorized it, and why it was pushed through with such haste. Until then, her ambition for higher office remains overshadowed by unanswered questions and unresolved controversy.

Kampala deserves leaders who protect the public purse, not those who hide behind procedure. The Nakivubo scandal is more than a political blemish — it is a warning about what happens when public trust is traded for private gain.

Until Zahara Luyirika confronts this controversy with honesty and transparency, she remains unfit to represent Makindye West, a constituency already bearing the cost of political complacency and quiet corruption.