The huge task facing new team running Kampala

Some of key areas

• Mr Lukwago’s administration has a duty to eliminate the potholes; improve traffic inter-connectivity to and through circular roads and relocate the taxi parks outside the city centre.
• Planning for the huge population of the city and provide it with services. The city, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2009 mid-year projections, had a population of 1, 533, 600 people.
• Enforcing development plans that have often remained as blue prints.
• Ensuring that public open spaces in the city are nolonger under threat by developers.
• Preserving historical buildings, mainly located in Old Kampala. These have unique Indian architecture.
• Ensuring that wetlands are not encroached on.
• Wiping out corruption.
• Handling the issue of street vendors.

Enforce development plans

KCC on paper has great physical development designs and architectural drawings. These blue-prints, including planned flyovers to decongest traffic at intersections, require huge financing but neither KCC nor government has a budget for implementation.
As technocrats at City Hall move from strict zoning to allowing mixed development in particular areas, lack of judicious application of rules could engender conflicting land use, according to chief Kampala physical planner, Mr Charles Kyamanywa.

Amenities

Kampala got a major facelift during the 2007 Chogm but the street lights and fresh paint coats began faltering shortly after the foreign delegates departed.
Residents now complain of muggings and robbery at dark corners. National Water and Sewerage Corporation has moved to ration water while electricity load-shedding is acute, affecting small businesses. Mr Lukwago will have to find middle-ground to work with the central government to address these challenges that impinge on welfare of city dwellers on daily basis.

Population

Most planning in Kampala is a guess work because there is no reliable population figure. The city, according to Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2009 mid-year projections, had a population of 1,533, 600 people. KCC officials say some 2.5 - 3 million people live in the city.
Without a proper inventory, quantity and quality of education, health, development provided by authorities could be inadequate, or misplaced.

Street vendors

Mr Lukwago’s mass support among common men and women could turn out to be his poisoned chalice when he moved to redeem the city.
Many run informal or illegal businesses, operating in front of shops whose owners are heavily taxed, and pile their merchandise on sidewalks, blocking access sometimes for fire-tenders as it happened when the down town Park Yard market besides Owino went up in flames.

Preserve historical buildings

Old Kampala stands out with its unique Indian architecture, which hungry developers could clear out any time, as planners focus on only keeping buildings of worship such as Churches and Mosques virgin. With a government hungry even to knock down the national museum, lack of restraint could see Kampala city stripped of landmark identifiers and rich culture told through varying architecture.