Dorothy Kisaka’s tenure at the helm of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) as Executive Director is set to end on July 23rd, 2023 and there are mixed feelings about her performance .
While some people have credited her for having reduced the political tensions and flares between the executive arm of the city and that of the political leadership led by Mayor Elias Lukwago , others have noted that there isn’t much she has done to clean up the city , reduce congestion , manage the menace that are boda bodas and the potholes that Kampala has come to be known for .
President Yoweri Museveni through the Ministry of Public Service surprised political and development pundits when in June 2021 appointed the little known Kisaka on a three year contract to manage a disorganized , highly polluted and dirty Kampala city.
This after another technical head , the nonsense ,flamboyant Jenipher Musisi abandoned ship for a more lucrative and less stressing job at the elite American University Havard.
After three years in charge , and with limited funding from the central government , a struggling business community after three years of Covid-19 lock downs , most parts of Kampala remain in darkness during night hours and the city road network has completely broken down to the extent that citizens have taken to social media to carry out a “ Kampala City Potholes exhibition” sarcastically showing national leaders in boats to crossover the wide spread gullies .
The potholes exhibition went far and wide , drawing the attention of President Museveni who ordered for the immediate release of Ug.Shs.5bn to fix the problem .
Authorities at KCCA say that Ug.Shs.5bn was a drop in the ocean and they have thus managed to only carry out selected soil patching, sectional repairs, grading and gravelling in a few areas of the city .
The long awaited construction of the old tax park was completed and although it has slightly improved traffic flow in and out of the park, the facility is still over-crowded with no clear escape routes in cases of an emergency. The markets are a story for another day .
Some 17 junctions were signalised under KIIDP2 and government financing and these include among others ,John Babiha (Acacia) Avenue, 5 along Nakawa Ntinda, 2 on Lukuli new road , 3 Kabuusu-Bunamwaya-Lweeza road, Ben Kiwanuka/Luwum Street and Kasubi junction.
Overall, there is public outcry for government to have the political will to fix the problems of Kampala city without fear of losing the vote in 2026 .
Besides , the ruling NRM party is yet to gain any significant support in Kampala city which has a mayor elected from the opposition for a longtime.
What has to be done to fix the nightmare that is Kampala city
Among the major issues that have to be tackled head-on by the next technical leadership at KCCA is to fix the road network in and around Kampala to properly manage and reduce traffic flow in and out of the city.
Decongestion will require diversion and or creation of outskirt routes for heavy trucks , introduction of bus lanes for both electric and less fossil fuels emitting ICE buses ; introduce a tax for small single occupancy cars that access the central district everyday (key study of London and other European cities ) .
Government should also have the political stamina to solve the problem of boda bodas in Kampala by creating specially gazetted areas and stages for their regulated operations , revamp the city train public transport system and lit the roads.
The city authorities should also come up with creative ways of better management and collection of garbage and protection of the water channels and systems across the city by heavily penalizing those who are found dumping garbage in these water channels .
Recently, the First lady has come out and called for the removal of street kids another problem which the city authorities are yet to resolve .
Ugandans are longing for a smart , clean , well organized Kampala Capital City .
