Let’s not blame only rain but also our city planners

The gravity of the ongoing heavy rain is beginning to take a toll on Ugandans across the country. This paper on Wednesday reported that two people were killed after a shelter they were in collapsed on them during a downpour (see: Two die after house collapses during afternoon downpour, Daily Monitor, June 5).
Kampala Metropolitan Police spokesperson Patrick Onyango said the wall became weak due to heavy rain and collapsed.
In Bushenyi and Rukiga districts, six people, including two brothers, were struck dead by lightning following heavy rain.
Besides, several access roads in Kampala, Wakiso and Mukono districts are nearly impassable after they have either been washed away or turned into gullies due to ravaging floods. Similar situations pertain to other parts of the country.
However, while we may explain away the tragedies caused by the downpour elsewhere, we should not do the same for Kampala, which is both the commercial and administrative city in the country.
In the specific case of the wall adjacent to Namirembe Guest House that collapsed, fingers should be pointing in the direction of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA).
Imagine this. How and why did the planning department at KCCA allow the wall to be constructed in the manner it was done? Put another way, how could KCCA, which is a clearing house for all construction/development that takes place in the city, allow the building of a perimeter wall in the place and the manner it was done?
From the look of things, this wall was an accident waiting to happen. Sadly to date, there are still many questionable structures standing in and around Kampala. For instance, there are buildings, especially in downtown Kampala, whose access is through using stairs that are constructed on the pavement! Why? There are also many business premises, including arcades, shopping malls, etc, that do not tick all the boxes to qualify to be in the city yet KCCA could have endorsed their construction.
Unfortunately, until some of such structures cave in and collapse with the accompanying destruction of lives and property, nobody seems to care.
We believe that it is high time the responsible authorities, departments, and agencies woke up and cracked the whip to bring Kampala City to order in terms of how best things must be done.
Short of taking drastic action against KCCA officials and other stakeholders, who do not play their roles as is required of them, the country will continue to lose lives and property, as structures fall on them.