KCCA clarifies on road renamed after late BMK

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Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has clarified on the road renamed in honour of late property tycoon, Hajji Bulaimu Muwanga Kibirige, who was also known as BMK.

KCCA interim executive director, Frank Rusa, told New Vision Online on Wednesday (October 30, 2024) that the renamed road is Park Lane and not Wampewo Avenue as reported earlier.

KCCA interim executive director, Frank Rusa. (File photo)

Park Lane, which is now called Bulaimu Kibirige Road, is a link between Yusuf Lule Road roundabout near Garden City and Oasis Mall, and Wampewo Avenue through Centenary Park.

Rusa said he was informed by the physical planning directorate that the signpost marking the name BMK Avenue at Jinja Road roundabout was erected by “masqueraders” and will be removed.

“So, that particular [new] signpost [at Jinja Road roundabout] is illegal and it will be removed,” he said on the phone.

The KCCA chief said, Park Lane was renamed after a resolution of the KCCA council, in a gesture of honour to the late business tycoon who contributed to Uganda’s development.

“In other instances, area land committees sit and make recommendations to the KCCA, citing the reasons for such recommendations,” Rusa said when asked how city roads are named or renamed.

KCCA is now going to have the new Bulaimu Kibirige Road name registered and recognised with Google, New Vision Online heard from a source within the Authority’s physical planning directorate.

Wampewo Avenue, which stretches from Jinja Road roundabout to Upper Kololo Terrace Road, above the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds, is where the late BMK owned Hotel Africana and BMK Building are located. They are among several properties he left within the country and abroad.

Parliament’s resolution

BMK died of cancer aged 67 on September 10, 2021, and a few days later Parliament resolved to rename the road after him.

Members of Parliament paying special tribute to fallen business mogul, Hajji Bulaimu Muwanga Kibirige, who was also known as BMK. (File/Courtesy photo)

However, the road MPs recommended renaming while paying tribute to BMK’s life and work, was Wampewo Avenue.

The recommendation was in response to a motion tabled by the Kampala Central MP, Muhammad Nsereko (Independent), who informed the House that the late tycoon contributed to the development of the country’s tax base and tourism, among others.

The motion was seconded by the ruling party’s Igara East MP, Michael Mawanda, and then government chief whip, Thomas Tayebwa, who both supported the idea of renaming the road, eulogising BMK as a person who supported and assisted many Ugandans.

Lukwago explains

Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago, told New Vision Online that when Parliament made that resolution, it was forwarded to them as a council for implementation.

Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago. (File)

“We all agreed to the resolution and had to process it because BMK was an iconic figure not only in the city, but also in the country who deserved to be immortalised through the roads,” he said when contacted.

“Hotel Africana is a significant feature in our city and Wampewo did not signify so much our heritage or some of the things that we treasure as a country. So, we deemed it proper and fitting to rename that road after that towering figure called BMK,” Lukwago added.

In his book, My Story of Building A Fortune in Africa, BMK, who was a Primary Seven dropout, explained how he toiled for years to build his signature investment, Hotel Africana.

The late Hajji Bulaimu Muwanga Kibirige, who was also known as BMK. (File)

His journey started in Masaka with coffee trading in the 1960s to wide-scale entrepreneurship and saw him expand his wings into Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, South Sudan and the DR Congo.

President Yoweri Museveni commiserated with BMK’s family, relatives, business associates, and well-wishers.

“Dr Bulaimu will forever be remembered for his indelible contribution towards building a fortune in Uganda and Africa,” he said in the eulogy he gave on X, formerly Twitter, in September 2021.