To the Government of Uganda: if the announcement and news of UPDF taking over all infrastructure development projects in Kampala, are something to go with, I wish to propose the following:
1) A long-term change to Kampala with the removal of capital city administrative functions from it and transferred to Nakasongola, so that formally Kampala becomes the national commercial and industrial city of Uganda. This may need a law to amend the Kampala Capital City Authority Act (2010). So that the army’s plans, supervision and works are also concentrated in the building of the new multi-trillion shillings futuristic national Capital City, in Nakasongola: a centrally-located site, with huge undeveloped land that is already available and naturally connected by water, road and air–factors suitable for a modern well-connected capital city of the future. This would require formulation of the multi-trillion shillings policy and project, which will need over 10,000 youth as skilled and unskilled labour, over the 10-year period of execution and implementation by the Govt of Uganda via the UPDF. Such will be Uganda’s ever biggest project whose funding should be drawn from oil proceeds from the Albertine Graben. Which oil is slated, according to Govt, to start flowing in 2026-2027! Construction of a new Nakasongola Capital City would also require millions of metric tonnes of rocks, sand, bitumen, pavers/pavements, millions of metric litres of water and fuel etc, that would have a huge 10+ years’ impact and change on the socio-economic future of Nakasongola as a district/subregion in particular and Uganda, as a whole. My argument/choice for Nakasongola, is strongly rooted in the conviction that there’s enough land to establish adequate 21st century (and beyond) infrastructure (of roads, runaways, Internet backbone, city trains, plus lake Kyoga and River Nile waterways into and out of the new city, etc, etc) and other facilities. Connection to the north, central, western and southern Uganda can easily be established using all the 3-dimension (land, water and by air) as natural and man-made technological factors given Nakasongola’s conducive flat or slanty topography (towards lake Kyoga and R. Nile), unlike Kampala which is hilly, with valleys all over the area, except for the only slant towards the south (of Kampala’s areas of Luzira and Port Bell, on the shores of Lake Victoria). Meanwhile, I too propose that conversion of Kampala from a terribly polluted, congested and traffic-clogged Capital City it is currently, to a more decongested Commercial and Industrial city, it’d be10 years+ of hard work.
A new Kampala without capital city functions should get cable cars and flyovers that were one-time planned for as part of the traffic decongestion and city development straregy, based on several studies and plans some of them funded by the World Bank, but have remained on paper/books all this long. Interestingly, outgoing Lord Mayor, Ahajji Ssalongo Erias Lukwago was reportedly quoted as vouching for a Kampala stripped of capital city administrative functions. US-based Jeniffer Musisi said to be pursuing PhD qualifications and is also lecturing too, during her tenure as ED under Lord Mayor Lukwago, had ambitious plans for Kampala’s transportation system. One of her notable proposals was introducing cable cars as an urban transportation solution to congestion and pollution. This was part of a broader strategy to decongest the city and improve mobility.
Some of the other transportation initiatives she explored or implemented include:
-Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system: A feasibility study was underway to implement this system.
– Light Rail: Plans were being made to introduce a light rail system to support the city’s growing population like Dar es Salaam (Tanzania), and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) as good examples in the Great Lakes Region.
– Electric buses: Musisi aimed to introduce electric buses as a sustainable transportation option.
-Improved road infrastructure that included constructing flyovers, widening road/street junctions, and enhancing pedestrian facilities.
These initiatives aimed to transform Kampala into a more livable and sustainable city, have been partly worked on. But a more comprehensive undertaking of turning around Kampala, as I’m proposing, is what would practically make this old but more commercialized and industrialized city, more livable. It my earnest prayer to the central Government (Executive), the Parliament and the Judiciary in conjunction with the newly-elected, vibrant and ambitious Lord Mayor, Hon. Eng. Ronald Balimwezo, that this humble proposal is adopted via comprehensive consultations but marched by bold decisions thereafter, to operationalize what would have been agreed on! Thank you.
The above opinion was written by PETER WAMBOGA-MUGIRYA(Journalist).
