Fix competing interests to make Kampala work

KCCA executive director, Jennifer Musisi, Kampala minister Beti Kamya and Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago

What you need to know:

The issue: Musisi resignation
Our view: Unless the city authorities fix the competing business, political, and security concerns that have often tripped Musisi and team, this new opportunity to fix loopholes will be lost.

The announced exit of Jennifer Musisi as executive director of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), should offer a great opportunity to rethink the way the city should best work. Musisis’s seven years at the helm as the city’s top superintendent has registered both gains and losses.
Some of the gains, as Musisi listed, include cleaning up the city, clearing vendors off the streets, and demolishing street side kiosks, are commendable.

But these have come with political costs too. Evidently, the greatest challenge to Musisi has been, and remains for the incoming overseer; how to balance competing business, political, and service delivery interests in Uganda’s foremost commercial and political hotbed.
Prominent among Kampala City’s persistent headaches have been determining taxation levels, especially for taxis, a key revenue source. Another is organising and managing the city traffic, which has been a muddied fight between technocrats, well-placed taxi owners and operators, security organisations, and boda boda taxi riders.

No less has been the hurdle of enforcing unresolved trade order among vendors and fights over relocation of markets, taxi and boda boda stages to decongest the city. Besides these are hindrances from bigwigs in obstructing construction and maintenance of major city drains and roads, plus physical planning and development control, as well as planning efficient garbage collection and disposal.
What is more, has been the overriding role of monitoring the delivery of services within the city and meeting the needs of minority poor and those of the rich, the influential, and balancing them against political pressures.

These running concerns have frustrated the planning of Kampala and raising it to a clean, self-sustaining, vibrant, and an attractive city under the sun.
Unless the city authorities fix these competing business, political, and security concerns that have often tripped Musisi and team since 2011, this new opportunity to fix the loopholes that are apparent through her exit, will be lost and the city again left in the same deadlock.

Going forward, when Musisi exits City Hall come December 15, these headaches should constitute some of the key issues that both the KCCA technocrats and political leadership should urgently address.
These could include reviewing and harmonizing the conflictual powers of the Minister for Kampala, Executive director, Resident City Commissioner, Lord Mayor and division mayors and their councils for an effective planning, governance and administration of Kampala.