Of the ‘Angella’ fame - Nansana

On a cold drizzly Tuesday morning at approximately 10:45am, I set my foot in Nansana from the city, a 15 to 20 minutes’ drive if one has not experienced traffic jam along the way. It is located in Wakiso District, along Hoima road, nine miles from Kampala town.

Transport fares
A taxi driver in Nansana says in the morning hours –from 5am to 7am, they charge Shs1,000 from Nansana to Kampala town and Shs1,500 from 7am to 11am, and after this time it again reduces to Shs1,000. Taxis at the New Taxi Park, charge Shs1,500 from town to Nansana.

History of the place
Although most people, including those who were born in Nansana do not know exactly how the place got its name, they know how some of the place names within Nansana got theirs. Yesu Amala is one of these places. It got its name from an elderly man called Yesu Amala, who as I got to find out from a boda boda rider, passed on in 2012. “When he was still alive, people used to say they are going to Yesu Amala’s and the name stuck,” says the motorcyclist.

Economic activities
Nansana generally lies on a plateau because as one observes from Nansana central point, it is separated from Namungoona by a thick green wetland with eucalyptus trees, both places characterised by gentle steep slopes and on the eastern side, is a valley separating Nabweru and a place called Mukibwa from Nansana.

If there is a place with so many activities going on all at once, then it is Nansana. All sorts of activities and businesses, ranging from welding, supermarkets and retail shops, hardware shops, to making compound pavers, boutiques, carpentry and joinery, take place here. There are quite a number of modern housing structures at Nansana, storeyed and non-storeyed, many still under construction and a good number completed.

Most notably as one sets their foot at what you would call the main entry road to Nansana coming from Namungoona, is Bukomero Seven Sisters House, a storeyed building housing Divine Supermarket which stands out as the tallest building at the place. Bamuz Cheap Stores and Mustard Supermarkets are among other busy business points at Nansana.

Spending a night at New Base Hotel, one of the lodging places adjacent to the main road at Nansana, costs one Shs10,000 and Shs20,000 for a self-contained room. Grenkhad Country Gardens and Hollyfam Hotel and Resort Centre, both along the main road are quiet recreational places where one, after having a tiresome day, can visit for a date with a loved one, family hangout or relax in as they play pool table and listen to music

Security
A police officer at Nansana Police Station says a number of security routines take place to ensure that the place is safe. They include motorised and foot patrols. These usually result into arresting late night drunkards and gamblers who play cards (matatu) from morning to evening and tend to become disorderly. There is also community policing, where the citizens also work with police officers by reporting offenders.

Amenities
There are a couple of health centres in Nansana and they include Rena General Clinic and Sebbi Medical Centre, which operates 24 hours a day. Like any other developing place, Nansana also has a good number of schools ranging from nursery to secondary. But the most prominent ones include, Little Stars Nursery and Day Care Centre, London College Nansana and Uganda High School, all mixed day and boarding with both ordinary and advanced levels.

There are also a good number of churches, but the most common one at this place is Pastor Wilson Bugembe’s Light the World Church. Others include St Stephen’s Nansana Anglican Church of Uganda and Grace Pentecostal Church, which have weekly bible study sessions every Wednesday from 4pm to 6pm. “Despite the hard living conditions that are characterised with high levels of poverty in Uganda today, I find Nansana a good place to stay,” Prossie Nakiwala, one of the residents, says.

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