After Jennifer What Next For Kampala

Uganda has a politicized system that mixes politics and development, I strongly believe that running the city shouldn’t be mixed up with politics or politicians and that’s why the city has an Executive Director.

Jennifer Musisi the out-going executive director for Kampala city council authority has been the best Kampala has had in a very long time. Not very many will come to the same conclusion with me especially vendors who were got off the streets by her orders. But the fact remains, Jennifer created standards to improve the city like traffic lights, street lights, tarmac roads, emphasized and promoted city cleanliness and many more.

Kampala Night, Uganda 256

We are sad that she has decided to resign but we as Christians are glad that we had a fellow Christian in a high place that kept her integrity and developed our country and I will surely miss her a lot. My desire is that Jennifer Musisi is kept as an adviser to the incoming executive director position to ensure continuity and sustainability of her vision and plans for the city.

In the same spirit, I pray that the next person appointed or hired in this position isn’t corrupt or corruptible, not a coward, is not political, is developmental, thinks and plans for the good of the country. Am not a political leader but as a citizen, I believe that Uganda needs good concrete planned systems and rules to govern and uphold the systems.
These systems must be planned, basing on the current population but also estimating the increase that will happen with time. Some of these systems include; housing, public transportation that reduces pollution, good tarmac roads, green spaces and many more.

Currently, we have narrow roads with potholes, very many taxis and “boda-bodas” that increase pollution, a housing arrangement that will not favor the increasing population and to top it all up a centralized system of basic things that pools people from different places to congest Kampala. A journey from Gaba to the city center should normally take fifteen minutes but because of the nature of our road and the number of cars, this trip takes almost one and a half hours. This is unacceptable, human resource is one of the most expensive commodities and their energy and time shouldn’t be wasted on the road. Other developed countries have taken measures to these problems like, building apartments to solve the housing problem, construction of underground trains to boost public transportation that reduces traffic and pollution and many more examples.

In conclusion:

Kampala is not only our capital but the seat of the government, it is a global city that is meant to be exemplary to other cities in Uganda and therefore must have a standardized system.

My plea to our leaders, the next leader for Kampala, should be person with heart for the city, a man or woman who is not a politician, a person exposed to world cities and a person of integrity.