Letter to Kampala Lord Mayor

Dear Brother Elias Lukwago, greetings! I hope this note finds you well.

I will go straight to the point. You have gone to court to challenge an attempt by the central government to reign in the number of passenger motorcycles, aka boda bodas, in Kampala. The law suit’s details and merits are not the reason I am writing this letter. It is not the procedure but the principle.

I have great admiration for you and all you have done over the years in the struggle for a better Uganda. You have been in the trenches, fought relentlessly, often at the risk of your personal health and wellbeing. Like other compatriots, as you know, at one point I was deeply worried for your health.

You are a principled and patriotic Ugandan. You have unfailingly stood up for fairness and justice, represented those unjustly dragged to courts and unfairly detained by Museveni’s rogue system of rule.

You have intrepidly defended the common person and refused to cave in to the dictates, intimidation or even entreaties of the rulers. No one can convincingly question your track-record on these issues of due process, justice, fairness and the broader struggle for proper government.

You are the popularly elected head of Kampala City. You have the people’s mandate to deliver change and transformation, to make Kampala a better city.

On three occasions, against all odds and seemingly insurmountable hurdles, you emerged victorious as the duly elected Lord Mayor of Kampala, quite obviously to the chagrin of Mr Museveni and the rulership he heads.

The people of Kampala elected you to lead them, to chart a path that improves their lives and livelihoods. As you may recall, in the immediate aftermath of a resounding victory in 2016, I candidly spoke to you in private about the need to craft a strategy for serving the people of Kampala in substantive terms by delivering on some of the key and most pressing problems affecting the city. This brings me to the boda boda tragedy.

On its own, Kampala’s road network is pathetic, too shallow for a modern and fast growing metropolitan. The roads and road-arteries are at least half a century behind. But the conduct and behaviour of our brothers riding passenger motorcycles just make a bad situation worse.

Kampala’s roads are a chaotic spectacle I have never seen anywhere else. Over the past decade, with you at the helm of city hall, the roads situation in Kampala has sunk in ways that are indescribable.

When driving in Kampala I hold my breath not sure when a boda boda will throw himself in the car’s path and if, God forbid, the car hits him and he is hurt or, worse, he dies then what follows is likely to be mob justice.

The mayhem and menace on Kampala’s road is simply out of this world. There are different categories of errant road users, but none beats the total disregard of the rule of the road that boda-boda riders engage in with impunity, closely followed by commuter taxis.

There is no basic courtesy and decency on the part of boda bodas. The traffic corps appear helpless and look on as boda bodas run the red-light, ride on pavements, criss-cross the road, ride on the wrong side and engage in all sorts of dangerous and egregious acts.

The swarm of boda-bodas on Kampala’s roads, especially at key intersections and junctions during rush hours is simply astounding, even frightening.

Worse, they commandeer whole streets and make certain parts of the city inaccessible. Where is the limit, Ndugu Lord Mayor?

We see bodas as a source of employment and a solution to the city’s endemic traffic jams. But how many bodas must we have on the roads to cure our endemic unemployment, and how can the countless bikes on the roads not themselves inevitably become a source of traffic jams?

A great part of leadership is courageously taking a position you know is right even if unpopular. It is about telling the people you lead what they don’t want to hear but which serves the common good.

In times of deep problems, pursuing a viable solution is bound to inflict pain, but a leader has to take action and do the right thing. Will Kampala carry on with the current lawlessness at the behest of boda bodas?

The central government may not have the best solution, but it is on you, Lord Mayor, to innovatively tackle this problem.

Having a mass of boda bodas in the city centre is no magic want against unemployment and traffic jam, yet bodas have created an immeasurable law and order nightmare, a public health crisis of broken legs and limbs and deaths, and a culture of wrongdoing as the norm. Surely, something must be done, boldly and forcefully.

As always, thank you for your very kind audience. I hope to talk in person soon.

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