Kisenyi rises from slum to business magnet

The mention of Kisenyi in Central Division, Kampala, paints an image of a crime-tainted and desolate place with squalid habitations that house the city’s poor.
But the current towering shopping malls with bustling businesses, which have grown over time, gives the area an impressive outlook, making it one of the city’s fastest growing slums.
With its proximity to the city centre, Kisenyi has turned into a magnet of potential businesses.
The growing number of transport businesses and shops, makes it a beehive of activity.
Mr Hussein Kiggundu, 60, a businessman who has lived and worked in Kisenyi for at least three decades, blames the previous city authorities for failing to prioritise the redevelopment of the slum.
Mr Kiggundu says the uncoordinated planning birthed a crop of immigrants who found refuge in the area since it was the cheapest habitable place.
The place is inhabited by the Baganda, Acholi, Batooro and Somalis, among other communities.
However, as the pressure of city space escalates, real estate developers have since considered investing in Kisenyi.
“I vividly remember how it used to look like because I have been around for some time. When you look at the city now, the population is growing at a very high rate and developers now have no other option other than redeveloping slums. This is partly the reason why the once dirty Kisenyi is slowly growing,” Mr Kiggundu says.

Property value
The businesses are reinforced by the growing infrastructure and transportation businesses. Business arcades are erected on every road while the area also accommodates three bus terminals and two taxi parks.
The buses mainly transport passengers to the countryside in western region, increasing demand for merchandise.
For instance, all the bus terminals are surrounded by shopping arcades whose traders mainly sell merchandise to travellers.
“The fact that many passengers do most of their shopping from here (arcades), makes them our customer base because people travel on a daily basis so we are assured of making sales and this is the reason why most shops around these terminals have significantly grown,” Ms Brenda Nalwoga, 37, a trader dealing in women clothes, says.
Other business include maize mills, bars, restaurants and fuel stations.
Ms Nalwoga says about three years ago, a 12 by 12 shop space went for between Shs1.5m to Shs2m per month depending on the location of the building.
During our visit, we found out that a 12 by 12 shop space now costs between Shs2m and Shs3.5m, depending on the location.
The strategic location of Kisenyi is also another factor for its development. The slum is surrounded by business communities.
St Balikuddembe Market (Owino) is the biggest market facility in Kampala. The facility’s administration puts the number of vendors at 10,000.
However, there isn’t enough space for the vendors to store their merchandise hence some have since resorted to renting shops in Kisenyi.
Usafi Market, which is located in Mengo-Kisenyi, has also increased the value of businesses property.
The recent announcement by the management of Owino market to expand the facility to Kisenyi is also likely to increase business opportunities in the area.

Planning expert’s view
Dr Charles Koojo Amooti, an urban planning expert, says the growth of Kisenyi is informed by the principle of taxation and invasion as used in urban planning.
Dr Koojo says some landlords are suffocated by the increasing taxation and could be forced to sell their property due to high maintenance costs and taxes if they have commercial structures.
He also says as the city expands, the investors tend to identify free space in slums and chose to invade it, pay landlords and redevelop the land hence increasing its value.
For instance, he cites Ndeeba and Katwe which were slums but have significantly changed. Such urban renewal and regeneration, Dr Koojo argues, means that the city was not properly planned.
“The Central Business District is small and it now expanding to other places and the expansion can’t go further before places like Kisenyi are invaded. What is happening is the land readjustment and consolidation and as such, investors will buy such places and do better housing,” he says.
Asked what must be done to develop slums in the city, Dr Koojo says land readjustment and consolidation policy must be adopted where an investor enters into agreement with a landlord and develops their land and either share the shops upon completion or proceeds.
He says this system has been in other countries and has helped eliminate slums from the city.

Kisenyi’s challenges
Despite the development, the Kisenyi is still grappling with a myriad of challenges, including shortage of toilet facilities, high crime rate and poor housing units in some communities.
In 2014, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) unveiled a five-year strategic plan for Kampala hinged on laying a foundation for city transformation towards achieving the vision of a vibrant, attractive and sustainable city.
According to the plan, KCCA was supposed to address city planning to direct organised development, guide infrastructure development and thereby promote socio-economic growth.
The focus would be on among others, completion and implementation of detailed spatial physical development plans, spatial planning and upgrade of slums.
The areas that had been scheduled for slum upgrade are Kisenyi, Kinyolo (Central Division), Katanga, Bwaise (Kawempe), Nsambya, Kikuba Mutwe and Kansaga (Makindye), Kasovo, Kawaala (Rubaga) and Kinawataka (Nakawa).
However, the report shows that nothing has been done yet. The absence spatial planning has since seen more slums sprout, worsening the city’s planning problem.
The perennial flooding is another problem some communities are still grappling with.
The flooding usually affects residents in mud-walled dwellings, with some being washed away.

Population challenges

Kisenyi Health Centre IV, which is supposed to serve the surrounding communities is overwhelmed by the number of patients. A health worker, who preferred anonymity because she is not allowed to speak to the press, said while they are committed to serving the communities, they are demoralised by drug stock-outs caused by the overwhelming number of patients. She said majority of patients are from city slums such as Kisenyi since they cannot afford to buy medicine from private health facilities.
Daily Monitor understands that KCCA is currently running the citywide inclusive sanitation programme which mainly aims at improving sanitation in city slums.
Ms Julian Musiime, the programme’s coordinator, says KCCA partners with the private sector to roll out the programme. One such area where they have excelled is the emptying of toilets in slum areas and engaging communities on how best to improve sanitation.
According to the 2014 National Population and Housing Census, Kampala’s day time population stands at 4 million while its resident population stands at 1.5 million people. By 2050, the population of Kampala is projected to hit 12 million, according to a recent World Bank report. Such predictions, according to experts, paint a pale picture of the future of the city unless government embarks on strategic planning.