THE TAXI PARKS IN KAMPALA

*Widen the discussion table - the old taxi park* 

By Rahim Lubadde

Debates to remove and or reduce the number of taxis and boda bodas from the city center, create more cities, municipalities and town councils within the country have formulated one of the fundamental discussion topics in relation to physical planning and urban development in the Ugandan Legislative Assembly/Parliament for the recent weeks in addition to the 10billion Saga and the torture of Hon. Zaake Francis. Nonetheless, there are more barren brains in Uganda than the efforts to unveil them. Their momentum has gone though they creak and thoughts still tumble as years pass. They are being boiled by the subsidizing heat from the unhuman self-proclaimed and creamy thinking fellows. Everyday querying themselves whether God forgot about Uganda but all debates have continuously led to the same conclusive cowardice. History will judge me from a selfless point of view- I have and continue doing my work of sensitizing through my literature. 

Much as our city and transport planners plot to revitalize the chocked nature of our urban transport; through strategizing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) and Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), fly overs, the urban green transport of cycling and walking., there are key aspects that need to be considered. They prove to be coming out from the social aspects of humanity and the natural rights that everyone living and working in the city owns. Not to bur from the topic, let me begin by cautioning whoever is responsible for Kampala City Transport Planning that “stakeholder consultations” are part and parcel of the initial stages of planning to seek acceptability from the natives and the politicians otherwise our plans will always remain resisted and on paper.  So, lets always embrace and respect people’s opinions. “… where political credibility is limited, overall social welfare falls and the benefits of public policy flow narrowly to the small group of citizens to whom rulers can make credible commitments’ (Keefer 2007: 2-4)

As a piece of reminder, we need to always begin with “what comes first” for instance we begin by establishment of the national transportation plans to regional to district to municipals to communities as the last stage. There is no any way we can begin from bottom to up in that regard because the former enlightens the later. For purposes of this article, there is a need for a #metropolitan_transportation_committee to emphasis on issues that affect the metropolis as a whole rather than a single segment of Kampala CBD.  While working on transport; we seek knowledge on three aspects of commuter zones, routes and destinations. Let’s not forget that people flowing into the city streets do not actually stay in within. Therefore, what makes us think that removing taxis will solve the traffic jam challenges in the city. I cant rule out the fact that *now* is the best time to regulate on who come back into the city but ‘may be’ we are not ready for the cause.  

As an Authority, KCCA needs to understand the cost of urban redevelopment and regeneration through taking gradual procedures. For instance; establish city exit terminals at the outskirts of the city to ensure that when the ‘introduced buses” set off from the CBD, there is a station where they leave the passengers and then they proceed out by taxi. These sub-terminals at the outskirts shall in the first place restore the “the falling out hearts” of urban taxi drivers, reduce the number of taxis through design with minimal resistance and provide an equivalence in job creation: i.e. if there is a transport terminal in places like Zana, Kawempe, Bulenga, etc. where people can easily change the mode, all taxi drivers would be directed to these places and there will be no or minimal resistance. Many times, it’s not about compliance or divergence for urban policies to work but also the component of equality must prevail for the betterment of everyone. The problem of the city transport system should be looked at a wider scale rather than the removal of the old taxi park. 

The more roads and services that are implanted within the city are responsible for the increasing level of travel destinations and hence more travel demand. Therefore, fear lies intrinsically within me that the billions of public funds coupled with the international loans from China that are being used to construct fly overs, multi/national offices and large commercial buildings will attract more people into the city and hence more traffic problems and yet the closure of the taxi business will stimulate hiking unemployment levels, vandalism, and fragility. At the end, KCCA shall have failed to deliver with policy incoherence and inadequate performance. Nonetheless, as the city ruling Authority, KCCA must develop and coordinate broader integration frameworks that are underpinned to urban planning, city-wide planning, and ensure the inclusion of marginalized groups and key stakeholders to encounter its transport trials. 

As a consequence, given an opportunity through my pen, let me pose a query to the Director of Physical Planning and the Head of the Engineering section of KCCA before a decision is undertaken that “How did the following terminals end up in the middle of the city and yet they transport people miles away from Kampala; i.e. Kisenyi Bus terminal and Link bus terminal(responsible for Chaos in Kisenyi), Arua park(responsible for Chaos along Bombo road ), Namayuba bus terminal(responsible for Chaos along sir Apollo Kaggwa road, Martin road and Gadaffi road ), Mash Poa terminal(responsible for Chaos in Kibuli), Old Kampala terminal (responsible for traffic along Namirembe road, sir Apollo Kaggwa etc.) Why would a passenger going to Fortportal or Kasese by bus pass through the city center to access a Link Bus?  This should also be worked on through relocating the bus terminals to further away from the CBD. Remember, am not here to rebel and or cause havoc to the works undertaken by KCCA during the crisis but to add directly to the ministerial works of the National Departments responsible for transport, housing, urban growth and development and also to sensitize the public about the value in urban planning and policies.

Finally, credit must be given to the road naming projects that ease orientation within the city, urban smart walkways along Namirembe road and Luwumu street, the CCTV camera security program, street lighting, urban green, the introduction of internet applications like safe boda, uber, Bolt, street maps, etc., the great city flyover under construction around clock tower and many other government projects that have been set to reduce traffic jam in the city center though all parties must understand that more than 80% of the people living and working in the city do not drive. 

The writer is a physical planner

lubadder@gmail.com 

 *city planning Uganda*

COMMUNITY ROLE

The community role.

By 

Lubadde Rahim 2018 (recap)

Government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth. Many have come, though indeed countless have been involuntarily set out. This should not be the lethargy of our generation. Ugandans will take little note on what we say today but they are all responsible for the partial work. All the upcoming slogans like, ‘government etuyambe’ are preliquizite for laziness and failure to coordinate our lifestyle.

It is rather for us to be here and dedicate ourselves to great tasks remaining from the honored deceased, they have all died throbbing and in agony. This is not about me or you but the continued struggle is for us as Ugandans. Like president Obama says, “Yes we can”. The mandate for urban and rural development lies in hands of neither schemers nor government but civilians are the universal stakeholders in the brawl. Whether you like it or not, am not here to lie but to express out what my heart presumes to be factual, call it the ugly truth.

Parsed and constructive it hails profound in me, the tragic, catastrophic and filth nature of the urban streets in Uganda is the pretext for the increasing ‘fabrication’ of new disease causing germs and perhaps vectors. Do we have planners? A question that many ask. Time and time again, basic errors have cropped out in the best streets and claims that Mbarara, Fortportal and Mbale are the cleanest towns in the state. Doubt though not driven directly to the assumption but miscalculations prevail.

Services offered by physical planners are not entirely discrete and personal, they are rather capabilities performed by people for the people. Whoever benefits include the communities. Every time my alarm goes am taken in tremor as anxiety engulfs my soul fathoming about driving on the ugly, dirty streets of Kampala though these days I have absolutely resorted to taking short cuts to moderate the time taken driving.

We are not speaking as students, or planners or citizens of this or that city but rather as part of the living humans whose existence is in complete doubt. We have to learn to think in a new way. We have to learn to ask ourselves, not what steps can be taken to give our environment victory to whatever group we prefer, for there no longer are such steps; the question we have to ask ourselves is: what steps can be taken to prevent the overwhelming devastating conditions. The general public, and even many men in positions of authority, have not realized what would be involved in the continued mass uncoordinated development. The general public still thinks in terms of the obliteration of the rural status rendering our land entirely urban.

Urbanization comes with a complete change of mindsets, but where has it left our communities? In complete devastated and isolated living places. The sense of belonging is dying out and our leaders are silent about it. People are killing one another only because of the lack of balance in the way of development. Our communities still need to play a great role in shaping and developing the places in which we live. A set of discipline that phased out from our ancient spirits. Public amenities are meant to support lives of all individuals in a given place including the strangers and their maintenance is a collective and social role of all people who stay there in such places.

Who cleans drainage channels? Who cleans roadsides? Who burns community rubbish? Who cleans public spaces like churches and mosques? Personalization and bragging is the main cause of poor sanitation in our societies. It is also related to modernity. Should we wait for government to rejuvenate such conditions? Is this about the physical planners?

No, it’s the drama of our mindsets. People only think of their compounds and perhaps private gardens and completely ignore what happens in places where they pass. When diseases such as cholera and Ebola come up, they start censuring the government. The day these naïve souls will discern that it’s not always about people in authority but the community inclusive, our societies will have the preeminent to harvest.

Additionally, confessions must be portrayed, why settle in wetlands, forests, and all other environmentally sensitive areas. Is this the physical planner’s role especially when flooding enhances? A case in point Bwaise, Katanga, Katwe, Ndeeba etc. Cooperate social responsibility should be the talk of every authority, the policy of status quo must stop. There is a need for a communal understanding of the prevailing mitigation measures and the precious role that individuals can play and indeed stop blaming authorities.

Many times people have constructed in road reserves, does this also need a planner to direct development in such situations, and growth should not be in our physical areas but rather in our minds.

In conclusion, a physical planner’s role is to coordinate development and basically enforce physical planning laws and regulations, but the overall implementation and monitoring of his work should be a role of us the natives of these communities. The more we sit back the more we are left behind. Uganda deserves the best because we have everything it takes to develop for example the resources inform of materials, human resource and perhaps capital that is miss-used by the corrupt ‘heads’ of our government officials.

It should be noted that there is a great link between physical planners and politics and this is the reason why they are imputed time to time for the less service delivery. But our planners also demand the finest because their risky decisions are felt directly by the citizens and any mistake done by a planner costs his people a lot.

Wake up Uganda, wake up my people, wake up planners, and wake up authorities!!

""The writer is a physical planner"'

City Planning Uganda!