Each city has a story, unique character

Angella Nampewo

As of July 1, Uganda has seven new cities. In spite of the pessimism in some quarters, I believe we are all the richer for it and here is why.
In the newly rolled out operation, Kampala remains the capital city, run by the central government while the new cities will be run under local governments.

Essentially, there is no change there. If there were shortfalls under the local government, they remain there at the dawn of the new cities.

Now that tomorrow has arrived, we just have to get creative so that all those jubilating residents and officials in these budding metropolises do not have cause to regret the decisions taken by government today.

Having landed this long-awaited fortune, cities should be thinking way beyond breaking out the fireworks for though celebration is good; it is wise to ensure that there will still be something to dance about tomorrow.

That said, I celebrate the strides taken by the different regional cities to get to where they are now. In particular, I celebrate with Jinja.

Arriving in the eastern town on the shores of Lake Victoria as a new resident more than 12 years ago, I was awestruck by the road network in Jinja.

My inquiries led me back to the work of the late engineer James Zikusooka, the first African to serve as town engineer for Jinja.

He was part of the team that designed easily one of the best road networks to be found in any urban area in Uganda. Beyond the history, even more fascinating was the way Jinja residents were carrying on the town culture.

No one took you anywhere, not even a boda boda, until you could name the street where you were going.

Except for a few minor changes, most of the roads have retained their names too.

Over the years, in its own way, Jinja has positioned itself as a hospitable place welcoming visitors both local and international and making unique offerings as a getaway town and lately, a festival city.

Jinja has become synonymous with the annual agricultural show and more recently, the Nyege Nyege festival, an annual musical celebration that has gained local popularity and international acclaim.

The new city has often been the venue for golfing and rugby tournaments, a marathon and motorcycle racing events, among others.

A visit to Arua in 2013 was a real eye-opener and an introduction to unexpected beauty and taste in the design of hotels and places of entertainment.

Maybe I should not have been surprised. Arua is a place of colour; the people, the dress, the food and the designs all add flavour to this jewel of West Nile.

I celebrate Arua and I celebrate each of the seven new cities for each of them has a story, a history and unique character.

I will always remember Masaka as the place with the hotel that had probably the softest pillows in East and Central Africa.

Aside from being so naturally beautiful, Mbale evokes memories of one of the best resort hotels in Uganda, the great unending scenic beauty of the mountains and lots of fresh home-grown food.

It is my sincere hope that with the commencement of the new city status, Jinja and the other regional cities will not lose their character in the race to grow and sustain themselves.

The first step lies in recognising the unique advantages enjoyed by each of the new urban centres and modelling their growth on the basis of a clear identity.

Ms Nampewo is a writer, editor and communications consultant
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