Developers in Kampala who fail to plant trees on their properties will be denied occupancy permits under new environmental regulations being introduced by the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). KCCA Deputy Executive Director Benon Kigenyi said the requirement, to be enforced under the Building Control Act 2026, makes tree planting a mandatory condition for obtaining an occupancy permit, the legal document required before any building can be occupied.
Kigenyi said developers granted conditional approval to plant trees must comply before they are allowed to occupy or hand over completed buildings. “This is supposed to force the green cover to grow,” Kigenyi said, adding that institutions with available land will also be required to increase tree cover on their premises.
Developers are also being encouraged to reduce paved surfaces to allow rainwater to seep into the ground, a measure KCCA says will help reduce the persistent flooding that has affected many parts of Kampala. Kigenyi said the new measures reflect a shift from environmental awareness campaigns to stricter enforcement backed by legal sanctions.
He warned that Kampala’s environmental challenges have expanded beyond poor waste management and vehicle emissions to include growing noise pollution.”We have partnered with NEMA to go to those very offending bars that operate at night and keep us from sleeping. Where they have failed to heed our advice, we are confiscating their materials and will revoke their licences,” he said.
Kigenyi also raised concern about deteriorating air quality, saying pollution is increasingly becoming a public health concern. He said KCCA was particularly worried about the long-term health effects of exposure to polluted air, arguing that many illnesses, including some cancers, are linked to carcinogenic pollutants in the environment.
His remarks come amid growing scientific concern over Kampala’s air quality. Over the past several years, studies by Makerere University researchers and AirQo have consistently found that concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Kampala frequently exceed the World Health Organization’s recommended limits.
Researchers attribute much of the pollution to emissions from ageing vehicles, dust from unpaved roads, open burning of waste and biomass, and rapid urbanisation. A four-year monitoring study published in 2024 estimated that prolonged exposure to fine particulate pollution could have contributed to thousands of premature deaths in Kampala between 2018 and 2021, underscoring the growing public health burden associated with poor air quality.
While air pollution is a recognised risk factor for several diseases, including certain cancers, researchers caution that cancer is influenced by multiple factors and cannot be attributed to air pollution alone.
URN has previously reported on deteriorating air quality in Kampala, with environmental experts repeatedly calling for tighter controls on vehicle emissions, better waste management, and expansion of urban green spaces. KCCA is also encouraging every household to plant at least one tree within its compound as part of efforts to restore the city’s green cover. The announcements were made during the launch of the Green Pearl Campaign, an initiative supported by UNICEF to mobilise young people to tackle climate change.
Fatuma Namukhose, who manages the U-Report platform at UNICEF, said the campaign seeks to harness the energy of more than one million young people through climate education and tree planting. She said the initiative combines digital learning with practical environmental action to encourage young people to become lifelong climate champions.”When you tell a child something, they are going to act on it. We want these young children to grow up knowing that climate action is important and something they have to promote in their daily lives,” Namukhose said.
Namukhose said the campaign complements ongoing government efforts, including free tree distribution by the National Forestry Authority and greening initiatives by KCCA, by focusing on environmental education and behavioural change. The pilot programme will initially cover Kampala and Wakiso districts, where organisers hope to plant more than 5,000 trees over the next two months before expanding nationally as additional funding becomes available.
The new occupancy permit requirement marks one of KCCA’s strongest environmental enforcement measures in recent years, signalling a shift from voluntary compliance to legally enforceable obligations aimed at increasing Kampala’s green cover and improving urban resilience-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
