Kampala — Only 737 traders have been verified as genuine victims of the floods that devastated several buildings and arcades in Kampala in October 2025 and are now set to share the 20 billion shillings relief fund pledged by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni. The Internal Security Organisation (ISO) has submitted the verified list to the Office of the Prime Minister after investigating claims involving more than 2,000 traders who had initially been presented as victims.

Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja told leaders of the affected traders that the ISO-verified list contains 737 names and will be displayed at the affected buildings to allow traders to scrutinise it and raise any concerns before the money is distributed. She said the public verification stage is intended to ensure that the relief funds reach genuine victims and are distributed fairly.

Nabbanja said the verification process should be completed within two weeks, after which payment to eligible traders will begin. The number of people claiming to have been affected by the floods had varied considerably. Kampala Capital City Authority-KCCA initially identified 460 affected traders, while trader leaders later submitted a list of about 2,000 names.

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Another list containing about 1,600 names was subsequently presented to the government, prompting the Prime Minister to direct ISO to establish the genuine beneficiaries. John Kabanda, President of the Federation of Uganda Traders Associations-FUTA, had previously told Uganda Radio Network that the association had compiled a list of 2,005 traders affected by the floods.

Nabbanja also met FUTA leaders to discuss the modalities for distributing the Shs20 billion and how the money will be shared among the verified beneficiaries. The relief fund follows heavy rains in October 2025 that caused flooding in several parts of Kampala, damaging businesses and destroying traders' property worth billions of shillings.

President Museveni subsequently pledged Shs20 billion to support traders whose businesses and property were affected. Nabbanja later constituted a verification committee involving ISO officials and other government agencies to scrutinise the claims. The latest development comes amid growing tensions between some affected traders and government officials over delays in releasing the relief funds.

Some traders recently launched a social media campaign targeting government officials, including the Minister for Kampala and Metropolitan Affairs, Hajjat Minsa Kabanda, whom they accused of failing to facilitate payment of the promised assistance.

The meeting on the verified list was attended by Alex Kakooza, Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Patrick Ochailap, a senior official from the Ministry of Finance, and other government officials. With only 737 traders now verified from lists that at one point contained more than 2,000 names, the final distribution is expected to follow a public scrutiny process before the government releases the funds.