Kampala’s traffic: Who is to blame?

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OPINION

By Haji Faruk Kirunda

Who or what is responsible for traffic congestion (“traffic jam”, as Kampalans often call it) in Kampala? I have seen and heard people attributing it to President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy; that security cordons off sections of the road to accord his convoy right of way, which holds up traffic.

Firstly, the President does not pass through the city centre every day, yet there is always traffic jam in Kampala.

Secondly, it is not the President’s intention to inconvenience other road users and city dwellers. He would be the last person to do that. He only uses city roads when there are no alternative routes to his destination. For example, most of the time when he is heading to and from State House, Entebbe, to State Lodge, Nakasero, he uses the Entebbe expressway.

When coming from the western side of Kampala heading straight to Entebbe, or from the northern side of the city to the eastern side, he connects through the Northern Bypass. The President only plies city routes when he must. Other times are when he is working within a particular area of the city, such as when he is commissioning public projects. The rest of the time, he avoids ‘inconveniencing’ the central business district and takes his functions to Kololo or as far out of town as possible.

On the days that he goes through town, security and traffic officers clear the way only for a while. The presidential convoy runs at a standard speed and quickly makes its way out, enabling traffic to return to normal shortly.

Essentially, Kampala’s traffic gridlock is caused by other things that started in the early 2000s. It was driven by rapid urbanisation and a vehicular population explosion that overtook road infrastructure development.

With surging urban populations and physical developments coupled with many Ugandans affording cars of their own, the city became ‘small’, and now, two decades later, it is much ‘smaller’. Ugandans have bought cars at a faster rate than roads could be planned for and built. That is why the Government is speeding up infrastructure development and expansion to accommodate the increased traffic.

On the vehicle population, Ugandans tend to prefer driving to public means, probably for convenience reasons.

The other menace is bodaboda; Kampala’s traffic would be smooth and predictable if it were not for the tens of thousands of commercial motorcycles that weave through the city at breakneck speed daily, with little care for orderliness or rules. Their numbers increase by the day, with some bodaboda operators having no experience of riding in urban centres.

The result is locking down roads and endangering other road users. City authorities should continue to organise this sector and remove bodabodas from parts of the city that should be strictly for pedestrians and cars.

Another cause of jams is poor driving habits. Some Kampala drivers are very indisciplined. They create multiple lanes to get ahead and end up blocking oncoming traffic. Then, they defy traffic police guidance. Others park badly, causing other vehicles to squeeze through already narrow roads.

We have long spoken out about heavy vehicles bringing in merchandise from very far; why don’t these offload goods outside Kampala, for example, at warehouses in Namanve, then small vans ferry them into the city? A single long chassis truck occupies the space of about five small vans. The same heavy trucks cause faster road deterioration.

If President Museveni were responsible for the traffic jam, the problem would be everywhere because he does not operate only in the capital city. Do you see the same thing in Mbarara, Jinja, Mbale, Masaka or Gulu? If the planners in these cities do not plan, there will be a problem in future too, and the President will not be to blame.

Generally, Kampala needs to be decongested, and that is partly being addressed by activating other cities to host some of the businesses and services that attract people to Kampala.

On the numerical facet of President Museveni’s convoy, it should be taken into account that most world leaders have heightened security because of their central role in their country’s affairs. Any harm to the President or lack of control at any one time poses very costly ramifications to the country.

Uganda’s stability for the last 40 years has relied on President Museveni. He is an anchor for regional security. That attracts threats all the time. Anybody seeking to disrupt Uganda seriously would want him out of the way, which is why the shape and nature of his motorcade causes headaches to such. The format of the convoy relies on intelligence to determine its size, arrangement and speed, among other considerations.

At the same time, the President is a mobile operator. The convoy is an office from which he coordinates his duties while on the move. Everybody in there has a role to play, and the drivers are very highly trained and disciplined. They never cause unnecessary problems because of the strict code of conduct that they operate under.

If it were not for security concerns and functional necessities, President Museveni would gladly do with the bare minimum facilities in the same way that he worked through his struggles with basics. People should have noticed that his convoy is smaller than those of some of his counterparts. He does not even have outriders as a standard feature in the motorcades of some other leaders.

Therefore, any traffic inconvenience caused by the presidential convoy is deeply regretted, and measures are being taken to improve the general state of road usability in Kampala and elsewhere.

The author is the special presidential assistant — press and mobilisation/ deputy presidential spokesperson Email: faruk.kirunda@ statehouse.go.ug