DENIS TUKAHIKAHO Ph.D.: Parliament must constitute a commission of inquiry and hold KCCA ED personally liable for Kiteezi landfill massacre

The Saturday 10 August 2024 tragedy has exposed KCCA for neglect of duty and it was outrageous as eight people, including two children, lost their lives when a landfill in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, collapsed.

The tragic incident occurred in Kitezi, a district in the northern part of Kampala, following heavy rainfall that triggered a landslide at the garbage dump.

The general rule is that corporate officers are not personally liable for corporate activities except in rare instances where courts ignore traditional corporate liability protections for equitable reasons (known as “piercing the corporate veil”).

However, under a recent line of case law, corporate officers have been held personally liable in certain instances where they controlled the relevant decision-making and facilitated a violation of an environmental law (known as the “responsible corporate officer” doctrine).

Rare, but justified in certain circumstances including instances of egregious or repeated violations where the officer controlled the decision-making and facilitated the violation.

Accordingly, holding corporate officers personally liable for environmental violations is There are a handful of cases that have held corporate officers liable for violations of environmental laws without using the traditional test for piercing the corporate veil.

The common law doctrine of “piercing the corporate veil” allows the courts to disregard the corporate structure (and its immunity of limited liability of corporate officers) for equitable considerations such as to prevent injustice or fraud. In Connecticut, the courts in Uganda should pierce the corporate veil “and hold KCCA Executive Director personally Liable as justified below;

1. The KCCA Executive Director has been be in a position of responsibility which allows her to influence KKCA policy or activity on waste management at Kitezi Land fill
2. That she has been in strong position to influence the KCCA actions which constituted the violations of environmental human rights and loss of lives
3. There is a strong case that, her actions or inaction at KCCA facilitated negligence and the violations of human rights

Applying the test to the extensive record of violations and respective positions of the Executive Director, the law makers must pick interest in Kitezi massacre as it has been a “classic example of a situation in which individual liability to her and being responsible for decision making for waste management must apply.

Further recommendations; The Kitezi land fill must be decommissioned with costs.

A parliament must constitute commission of inquiry into KCCA land fill sites

All KCCA land fill site must have an environmental and social impact certifications

KCCA must publish a list of its environmental officers with their professional certifications

The author Denis Tukahikaho holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Management and Economics, Master of law Energy and Policy and Executive MBA and he is an advocate for human rights, clean and safe environment.