How Kampala pothole exhibition forced government into action

It started as “another idle joke” according to government sympathisers when Mr Jim Spire Ssentongo, a cartoonist, announced that there will be a Kampala pothole exhibition, starting Monday on Twitter.
Early that morning, photos of potholes in different parts of the city started trickling in on Twitter. By close of business, the exhibition was trending on Twitter with more than 13,000 tweets and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) leadership could not ignore it anymore.
Kampala for some time has been riddled with potholes, including the upscale areas such as Kololo and Nakasero.

READ: KCCA seeks Shs100b for city roads
The centre of the city has never been spared. Data presented by the authority indicates that by December 2022, KCCA had recorded an area of 8,500 Square meters of potholes, spread across the five divisions.
Parallel exhibitions of the beautiful parts of Kampala also started surfacing, with the ruling party members and some government officials joining forces to show the good side of the city, but were swiftly overshadowed by the gapping potholes, which some people christened ponds.
On Tuesday, Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the KCCA executive director, was forced to issue a statement, explaining the situation.

READ: Potholes: Traders threaten to stop paying KCCA taxes
Ms Kisaka said while KCCA requires between Shs70 billion and Shs100 billion annually to fix roads, the government only allocated a paltry Shs26 billion. She also said many paved roads have served far beyond their lifespan of 20 years, with the increasing number of cars on the roads making the situation even harder.
“The situation has not been helped by the increased traffic levels on the roads which in turn cause increased wear and tear. KCCA is currently constrained by the limited budget provisions to turn around this situation,” she said.
Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa asked the Ministry of Kampala to present a statement on the floor of Parliament about the state of roads in the city.
“Hon Minister for Kampala, I need you here on Tuesday to bring a statement, explaining how much money KCCA has received for road construction and maintenance for the last three years...,” he said.
 Mr Tayebwa said instead of beautifying the city with flowers and trees, the city is designed with potholes of every design and size.
Govt on offensive
Faced with a humiliating situation, the government instead of owning up to its failures went on the offensive, with leaders accusing the exhibitors of being unpatriotic. Some argued that it is wrong to showcase the potholes as it will scare away tourists.
However, the exhibitors said it is the non-performers who are chasing away the tourists.
The Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, condemned the exhibition and said while there is no problem in using social media to highlight the issues affecting society, however, the manner in which the exhibition is being conducted was very crude. He said the exhibitors should have raised the issues with the local leaders.
However, President Museveni issued a directive to the Ministry of Finance to immediately release funds to carry out repair works on the pothole-filled roads.
“I now direct the Ministry of Finance to urgently release the quarterly contribution to KCCA of Shs6 billion for pothole filling, repairs and maintenance of roads. I have been told that only 30 percent of this money has been released this financial year causing the roads outside the AFDB to fall into bad disrepair, with attendant problems of traffic jam,” the president said.
He also asked the authority to issue monthly updates on the state of roads and what they are doing to fix the problem.
“I task the Kampala executive director and her team to give the country an account on the progress of this matter. Kampala Capital City Authority should give monthly updates on the cleanup, repair and maintenance of the roads in the city,” Mr Museveni said.
Exhibition continues
The exhibition continues with, this time, tagging the KCCA with the specific location of the potholes and their size. Mr  Ssentongo said this will give KCCA accurate information that will guide their intervention.
"Now that KCCA is getting some money, let’s continue showing them where the terrible potholes to prioritise are until Friday. Speak to them with a pothole picture and location. You may also write a placard,” Mr Ssentongo tweeted.
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