Mukono Municipality Town Clerk, 3Engineers Arrested for Authorizing Operation of Condemned Building

Mukono Town Clerk Richard Monday together with the Municipal Engineer Joash Sserunjogi has been arrested for authorizing  condemned building to be used and its housing one of the biggest supermarket on its first and second floor.

The municipaityl officials have been arrested on orders of Geoffrey Kaheebwa a police officer in-charge operations at the National Building Review Board-NBRB under the Ministry of Works and Transport.

Kaheebwa in accompaniment of Asha Arinda the officer in charge of compliance monitoring and other engineers also arrested the building site engineers; Keneth Ssekasala, Ben Kizito and the building owner housing paris corner supermarket located at Mukono-Jinja-Bugerere junction Jackson Twijukye have also been arrested on similar charges.

The building was closed in late April this year, the municipal engineer Sserunjogi recommended for the supermarket to close so as to avoid putting in danger worker’s lives and people turning up for shopping.

Sserunjogi instructed the site engineers to under pin the inside part of the building claiming that beams where strong enough to support the upper three floors, though officials from NBRB halted the process before plans where submitted to their council for review.

He has informed the press that they learnt about functionality of the building they ordered to close after developing cracks before the review of its plans which they did not do.

To their surprise, the supermarket re-opened and during the process of inspection, NRBB discovered that site engineers proceeded with the construction works without their authorization.

The building owner Atwijukye has pinned the town clerk and the municipal engineer for having knowledge about constructions aimed at strengthening the building, about re-opening the supermarket, he has noted that he opened for the inspection team to access the upper floors.

Arinda also a senior structural engineer has noted that far from the opening of the building without authorization, professionalism at the site is not exhibited. She insists that all has been taking place in the presence of the municipal technocrats’ in-charge of inspections.

The Architectural Engineer Jerome Stowell Olowo a member at NBRB notes that the building lacks architects to guide changes which are visible at the site.

The supermarket was opened up in May last year after the completion of the ground and first floor of the building whose construction started in January.

Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editor@scribe.co.ug