Works Ministers insists on evictions of railway line encroachers despite concerns by MPs

What the report says

Uganda’s Works and Transport Minister Fred Byamukama has defended a government push to clear people and structures from railway reserves, saying the law provides for a 60-metre corridor along railway lines, with 30 metres on each side of the centre line. He told Parliament on Wednesday, 14 October 2026, that the Uganda Railways Corporation’s network includes reserve land that must be protected to support rehabilitation of the meter gauge railway.

According to Watchdog Uganda, the minister linked the eviction drive to a directive he issued on 29 September 2026 ordering the removal of all encroachers and demolition of illegal structures within railway reserves. He said the corporation had identified tens of thousands of encroachment cases along railway corridors, station land and isolated properties, including in the Busoga loop, where encroachment has affected railway infrastructure. He also said URC had already taken steps such as surveying, title protection, litigation, eviction planning and consultations with communities and enforcement agencies.

The issue prompted pushback from MPs. Hussein Muyonjo, the Jinja North Division legislator, questioned the basis for the wider reserve corridor, saying earlier discussions had referred to a smaller buffer and asking whether communities had been consulted. He also raised concerns that some land around the Mukono-Malaba line may already have been titled. Speaker Jacob Marksons Oboth referred the matter to the Committee on Physical Infrastructure for review and gave it 30 days to investigate the reserve-width contradiction and visit the affected area.