Prime
Kampala reveals our rulers’ incompetence
Author: Moses Khisa. PHOTO/FILE
What you need to know:
Since at least 2011, power in Kampala has fully rested with the central government and whoever is the appointed executive director. That is where the buck stops.
Kampala City’s roads, and other public resources, spaces and infrastructure, are the worst of any African capital I know. It is not just that we have a lousy road network, one planned for a city of more than 50 years ago not seriously overhauled or expanded since, it is also that even the miniscule and hugely inadequate road network we have is poorly maintained.
I ended last week asking if the rulers are simply too incompetent as to run a modern capital city, thus we are condemned to the mediocrity all too evident.
There are some very basic and banal tasks and accomplishments expected of a public authority, especially leadership managing a national capital, which in our case also happens to be the only true and credible city. Even if not well-developed, at a minimum, roads in a capital city must be well-paved and regularly maintained against routine corrosion that comes with repeated usage, wear and tear or effects of adverse weather.
Drainage channels must be well-developed, the sewerage system taken care of. There must be basic signage and clear markings in all public spaces. Citizens should have open and green areas for relaxation, recreation, sports, to exercise the right to assemble and protest.
Theatre, performance and arts resources, public libraries and government archives, just to mention these few, are the other places and spaces that invaluably contribute to making a modern city, critical in advancing talent, building and nurturing citizenship. There are others. There is scarcely any area or any of these items where Kampala scores convincingly and stands out proudly in delivering the basic minimum.
Kampala is a city of rapid population growth given Uganda’s sheer national population growth rate but also the rush to the city by hordes of rural Ugandans desperately searching for a livelihood.
With two thirds of Uganda’s economy in Kampala, there is objective basis for wanting to be in Kampala, but it is also true that subjectively, there is a perception of the city is the place from where to thrive or at a minimum survive. All this means that authorities in Kampala must keep up with providing a steady supply of goods and services to match the ever growing demand. This has for long not been the case. I argued last week that our rulers who are in charge of the government and state power can do many things to fix things in Kampala unencumbered by local politics.
For example, they can swiftly impose a ban on the rowdy passenger motorcycles, the boda bodas, entering the city centre and causing the mayhem they so liberally do. They could also clamp down on encroachment on public spaces and restore the green areas meant for public use but which have been commandeered by private individuals in the hopeless name of investment and development.
They could even pass a law, however harsh and unpopular, they have toyed with on the broader land law, that grants government the powers to undertake public works, especially in the city centre to protect the public good regardless of competing provide claims.
What is more, targeted investment in a basic area of water and sanitation can grant Kampala a much needed fully functional and efficient water supply and sewerage system underwritten by the state even if managed by a semi-autonomous corporation. They can do, this, that and the other, but just can’t do much and accomplish something truly ground-breaking they can point to.
Well, they like reminding us they brought security, which we didn’t have before they came in town. Yes and no. There is some nuance necessary here, but a story for another day, suffice to say there is more to today’s security narrative and past insecurity assertions.
Seen from a broader perspective of not just Kampala but the entire country, it is nearly impossible to not conclude that we are ruled by a bunch of incompetent power holders.
Even the nationwide road network that many like to hype, our so-called highways (if a two-lane road can actually qualify for a true and serious national highway), many done over the past two decades, quickly start falling apart within years due to shoddy works. No accountability, no punishment and no ensuring that any highway is built in a way that gives us a road that endures. In Kampala, regime apologists are quick to place the blame squarely at the doorsteps of the opposition-led political leadership. True, for the last two decades, the mayor of Kampala has been a member of the opposition.
Also true, part of today’s mess and decay came from the impropriety and abuse of power under the defunct Kampala City Council of Nasser Ssebagala and John Sebaana Kizito, both now deceased, before executive authority for the city moved to the central government. Since at least 2011, power in Kampala has fully rested with the central government and whoever is the appointed executive director. That is where the buck stops.
