By Wadulo Arnold Mark
Real estate developers, engineering contractors, and housing officials have sounded an urgent alarm over the alarming surge in deadly building collapses across Uganda, demanding immediate enforcement of professional standards, strict inspection regimes, and individual culpability for compromised site supervisors.
Speaking during a press conference in Kampala ahead of the upcoming National Real Estate Conference, leadership from the Association of Real Estate Agents (AREA) Uganda, the Uganda National Association of Builders, Suppliers and Engineering Contractors (UNABSEC), and National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC) declared structural integrity and professional regulation as critical priorities for the sector.
The industry’s interventions come amidst a harrowing wave of recent structural failures across the country. On October 26, 2026, a four-storey church extension under construction at Brother Ronnie Makabai’s Holy City Church collapsed in Bwerenga, Katabi Town Council, Wakiso District, leaving one builder, Francis Lukwago, dead and over 25 survivors rushed to Entebbe Grade B Hospital. Just two weeks earlier, on October 12, 2026, a midnight collapse of a multi-storey building under construction in Ntinda, Kampala, killed 50-year-old maize seller Serose Katusiime and injured another. Earlier in the year, on June 6, 2026, a building under construction in Kisasi, Kampala, collapsed despite an active stop-work order from the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), claiming three lives. Similarly, on May 2, 2026, an unapproved four-storey structure in Mbale City’s Namakwekwe Estate collapsed following ignored halt orders, resulting in one fatality and multiple injuries.
Addressing media representatives and industry players, AREA Uganda President Lazarus Mugabi highlighted that after 18 years of working to transform an informal property market into a regulated profession, physical structural failures underscore why unprofessionalism must end. Mukasa announced that the national Real Estate Bill, which introduces mandatory agent licensing, is expected to be enacted into law this financial year.
AREA Uganda President-elect Mrs. Lillian Sentamu Kaddu emphasized that curbing collapsing structures requires heightened legal liability for site inspectors. “Collapsing buildings have led to loss of lives and money; as AREA Uganda, all we can do is improve enforcement, increase inspection, and heighten culpability,” Kaddu asserted. “There is no reason why a physical planner or construction engineer who is supposed to inspect and write in the inspection book doesn’t do his job and then is not culpable; when he becomes culpable, he will start doing his job correctly,” she added.
UNABSEC President Mrs. Kiara Binta Nkuranga urged strict formalization across the entire construction value chain, supporting public “naming and shaming” of non-compliant contractors. “The cost of life is too high for us as associations in the sector to be quiet,” Nkuranga stated, cautioning developers and clients against overriding expert guidance. “Clients, once you have a professional on board, listen to their professional advice; if what they suggest is expensive, sit down with them and phase the construction rather than cutting corners,” she cautioned.
Reaffirming structural safety, David Etuket from National Housing and Construction Company noted that NHCC buildings have stood for over 60 years without a single collapse because they adhere strictly to qualified engineering, approved plans, and regulated curing timelines. “Professionals are not far from you; don’t rush structures or become the engineer yourself by cutting cement ratios,” David cautioned, emphasizing that professional design and supervision are far cheaper than repairing cracked or collapsed property.
The stakeholders stressed that these safety challenges will be thoroughly addressed during the AREA Real Estate Conference City Series 2026, held under the theme “Tourism Urbanization and Sustainable Real Estate Investment”. Designed as a multi-city movement rather than a single Kampala meeting, Phase 1 features the Policy and Innovation Summit on November 3–4, 2026, at Mestil Hotel in Kampala. This ushers in a virtual and in-person Strategic Investment Window from November 16 to 24 to screen 100 projects down to 50 investable ventures. Phase 2 transitions to Jinja from December 2 to 4, 2026, for the Investment Deal Room and Excellence Awards Gala.
Targeting developers, contractors, financiers, property managers, urban planners, and local leaders, AREA Uganda called on regional stakeholders across Jinja, Gulu,Masaka, Mbarara, Fort Portal, and Kampala to register at https://areauganda.org/cities2026. Organizers urged all industry players to submit their projects for screening and unite in building safe, planned, and resilient Ugandan cities.
