Wakiso town maybe only 17 kilometres from Kampala, and most of the capital city’s daytime population comes from Wakiso district, but the appearance of small aircraft takes precedence over and attention from any other activity in Uganda’s most populous and cosmopolitan district.
And so it was this Thursday morning when an old chopper carrying a politician who is standing for a parliamentary seat in Makindye Sabagabo landed in the small playground of Wakiso Mumyuka subcounty.
As the helicopter bearing aspiring MP now candidate Phillip Mundullu start approaching the ground and the sound of its propeller became louder.
By the time the chopper touched down, police had a hard time keeping the axcited crowds off to a safe distance. But once the engine was shut off and the propeller finally became still, the police became amiable and let the citizens approach and excitedly got their once in a lifetime opportunity to touch the machine that had descended from the sky.
Phones were whipped out as people jostled to take selfies with the chopper. The pilot was also entertained and kept laughing uncontrollably as the locals continued jostling for a chance to touch his plane. The locals hardly noticed the occupant as he made his way to the offices to be nominated.
The most telling development during the whole episode was that even supporters of Mundullu’s rival candidates had run away from their candidates and gone to admire their opponent’s ride!
Such are the development/ modernization levels of the district that virtually encircles the capital city and is already integrated in the physical planning of Kampala under the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Planning Area for which the government recently borrowed over $500 million from the World Bank.
