Housing shortage leading Kampala to big slum

A panoramic view of Kampala City from the Gaddafi Mosque in Old Kampala. Such areas if not developed into better infrastructure could make Kampala a mega slum in 10 years from now. Photo by Faiswal Kasirye.

What you need to know:

A recent World Bank report shows that Kampala may turn into a mega slum in 10 years if the housing is not properly planned. What can be done to stop this trend.

On an early Monday morning, hundreds of people cross the Kampala – Kireka Road in Banda, a city suburb. Among them are children going to school and their parents making their way to work. Some trek along the railway line to reach the city centre.

Most of them emerge from Banda slum area. The place is dominated by tin-roofed houses, some constructed on or near drainage lines overlooking the Mogas fuel depot. These structures are mostly homes and a few serve as shops. The slum is in between some modern housing structure in Kyambogo and Kireka.

On a rainy day, the area inhabits mini lakes and the other parts look like potato fields. This is just one of the slums in Kampala.

World Bank’s fifth Uganda Economic Update, which was released on March 2 titled, The Uganda Economic Update: The Growth Challenge: Can Ugandan Cities Get To Work? warned that Kampala could turn into a slum in the next 10 years if planning authorities do not act fast enough. “Failure to unlock the potential of cities may result in a deceleration of growth and the emergence of dysfunctional slum cities in which people live in appalling conditions,” the report reads in part.

The appalling conditions already exist. Scathing about the pace of planning and making affordable housing in the city, the report points out that the situation, especially in Kampala, if not addressed, will worsen the already existing poor living conditions in the slums.

“With the proliferation of informal housing and sprawling slums, congestion is increasing rapidly, creating chaotic conditions and resulting in a deterioration of the physical and social environment,” it further points out.

Why the rise of slums?
The rise in the number of slums is attributed to the rise in rural urban migration. People throng the city in search of jobs. From the 2014 population census, Kampala has an estimated population of 3.5 million people. Philippe Dongier, World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi, says this figure could rise to 10 million in the next 10 years, and this could result in Kampala becoming a mega slum.

“Kampala could either become a modern city metropolis or a mega slum in the next 10 years due to high urban population growth rate with low economic activities and poor infrastructures,” he says. Kampala lacks properly planned housing for this growing population. Lamudi, an online property listings company, notes that on average, the demand for rental properties outpaces supply by almost 20 per cent.

What could be done
In November 2014, Kampala City Authority (KCCA) announced it would not approve plans for construction of one and two-room houses - mizigo - around Kampala and Wakiso. Some players in the industry have said this move, if approved, could unlock the low cost housing challenge in the city.

“Should KCCA’s proposal be passed by parliament, we expect to see a drastic increase in low cost housing projects in Kampala and Wakiso. We should also expect to see an improvement in social infrastructure such as roads,” says Shakib Nsubuga, Lamudi Uganda Country Manager. KCCA in 2014 secured a Shs400b loan from World Bank meant to improve, roads, lighting and other infrastructure within the city. As some of this infrastructure, especially roads, improve; the private sector could come on board to have proper housing in place. Improved coordination within the city if done before the rapid population explosion, the World Bank report says, can deliver a well-designed and properly organised Kampala.

“To ensure the development of functional cities, the public sector will require the coordination of a range of different types of investment, including investment in physical planning for buildings and the provision of transport, housing and social services,” said Rachel Sebudde, Senior Economist at the World Bank and lead author of the report. “Each layer faces its own coordination challenges. It is better to anticipate and plan for this at the very early stages of the urbanisation process, as it becomes very difficult to correct mistakes retrospectively,” she adds.

Taking note of this is Dr Joseph Muvawala, the executive director National Planning Authority (NPA), who emphasises that as planners, catering for rapid urbanisation is indicated in the Vision 2040. The NPA is the architect of the Vision 2040 and part of it includes providing at least 12.6 million housing units across the country in the next 30 years.

“In line with the projected “In line with the projected fertility decline, Uganda will need about 12.6 million new housing units in the next 30 years. This means the government in partnership with the private sector will invest in constructing appropriate housing estates in planned urban and rural areas to provide decent urban settlements,” the Vision 2040 reads.

And low cost housing?
Plans to provide low cost housing within the city continues to face challenges such as failure to evict squatters, poor land tenure system and limited access to credit. For instance, National Housing and Construction Company (NHCC) has, been for the last two years in the process of evicting squatters from the Kasokoso area in order to construct what they term as low cost housing.

Another low cost housing project has delayed by more than eight years in Naguru and Nakawa as the contractor Opec Prime Properties struggles to raise financing for the project on 160 acres of land. Market forces such as the demand according to the World Bank report, have failed to solve the low cost housing problem.

“A law to regulate the land market needs to be put in place to improve management of land and infrastructure financing. Housing policies need to be reviewed in the light of market failures to address the need for housing by low income earners,” the report reads.

Notably rent fees in slums is Shs50,000 per month unlike the market rates for a one-bedroom house in the outskirts which triple depending on location.