A student has died in a horrific industrial accident at Sena also known as Ever Package Uganda Limited, a Chinese-owned factory in Mukono District.
Gerald Wasswa Mukisa, 18, was on his work routine when he fell into a paper grinding machine that cut his head off.
The incident has sparked fresh concerns over safety standards in the country’s booming manufacturing sector.
Witnesses say he and two colleagues slipped off the edge of paper rolls and into the powerful machinery.
Mukisa was decapitated instantly. His two colleagues, yet to be identified, were critically injured and rushed to Mulago Hospital for emergency treatment.
Mukisa, a student at Kayanja Secondary School, had taken the factory job to raise funds for his A-Level education.
But his family, already devastated by the tragic loss, were left further angered when factory officials allegedly attempted to conceal news of his death and later offered the grieving relatives just one million Ugandan shillings in compensation.
The amount was later increased to four million, but the family remains hesitant to accept what they see as a paltry price for a young life lost.
“The factory management has been unwilling to take responsibility,” said Annet Nakachwa, a family representative.
She added that they have now taken the matter to the Resident District Commissioner’s office. “This is not just about our child, it’s about justice: she added.
The tragedy has reignited long-standing concerns over safety standards in the Mbalala industrial park, where multiple factories have been accused of flouting regulations.
Samuel Odongo, a local councillor, says that industrial inspections are routinely blocked by factory management, allowing hazardous working conditions to persist unchecked.
“These factories are using outdated and unsafe machinery,” Odongo told the Insight Post Uganda, adding that workers’ lives are being put at risk every day, and no one is being held accountable.
Attempts by local leaders, including the LC3 chairperson of Nama Sub-County, to conduct safety inspections have been met with resistance.
Reports further suggest that similar incidents have occurred before, including the death of Godfrey Egesa last June at Riley Packaging, another factory in the same industrial park.
Egesa was crushed by falling paper rolls after an allegedly faulty forklift malfunctioned.
Despite repeated calls for intervention, factory owners remain tight-lipped. Ever Package Uganda Limited’s director, Wangi Kai, has yet to issue an official statement.
Meanwhile, Mukisa’s family and the local community are left mourning a life cut tragically short, as they mobilise support to give him a dignified burial in Wantayi, Nama Sub-County.
However, there is a growing demand for answers, accountability, and a long-overdue overhaul of safety regulations in Uganda’s industrial sector.
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