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“As we move to the future, we will inevitably find that we cannot sustain having individual vehicles with everyone driving their cars to town and going back."

Those were the sobering words of Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) director of engineering and technical services, Justus Akankwasa, as he rallied Kampala Metropolitan Area residents and commuters to embrace cycling.

This was at City Hall, KCCA's head offices, as he led a team of engineers and other staff in advocating for cycling within the city.

The group of around 30 cycled through Kampala's streets to demonstrate that cycling is an environmentally-healthier alternative.

Akankwasa told New Vision that as part of Kampala’s non-motorised transport masterplan, they are working on converting some of the big pedestrian corridors into cycling lanes to improve road safety for cyclists.

(Photo by Ronnie Kijjambu)

This mode of transport also comes with personal benefits.

“It is a physical exercise. You become fit. Many times when I come in my car seatedd and then I come to the office and I sit and then I get out of the office and I sit and go back and sleep, it is very unhealthy. But if someone had come to office riding and also gone back to their homes riding, that’s fitness,” said Akankwasa.

But challenges for cyclists exist.

With a city population of about five million people commuting to Kampala daily, traffic jam remains a challenge on Kampala roads.

Pollution from car exhaust pipes creates an unpleasant commute for many road users in and around Kampala, and it is even worse for cyclists and pedestrians who choke on these fumes daily.

Road rage caused by reckless drivers, narrow roads as well as cost concerns deters many would-be cyclists since most cannot afford electric bicycles which cost about sh3.5 million.

Bullying by motorists and erratic motorcyclists who regularly ride on pedestrian walkways during rush hour have been cited as some of the issues bicycle riders face in Kampala. 

Cultural stigmatization that riding bicycles is reserved for the poor people in society or the less privileged has also deterred many Ugandans from embracing this mode of transport.

'Safe, healthy and fun'

Nonetheless, Christiaan Pleijsier, eBee Uganda's general manager, whose company partnered with KCCA, also encouraged Ugandans to adopt cycling as a healthier transport alternative to driving. 

He said cycling is a very popular trend in Europe where he hails from and is culturally accepted, especially in the Netherlands where he was born.

With Dutch roots, his electric mobility company started operating in Uganda eight months ago, and is now also present in other African countries.

“There are so many reasons why you should ride a bicycle. It is safe, healthy, climate-friendly and fun and it is better to ride your bicycle than sit in traffic for two hours."

"We have bikes for ladies and for me, I also understand that some women think it is a male thing, especially since most boda boda riders are men."

Electric bicycles (e-bikes), with their climate-friendly, personalized and gender-inclusive mode of transport are now proving a very effective solution to de-congest the city’s roads, as is the case in many other European and Asian cities such as Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Tsukuba in Japan.

“You are driving away many diseases, so we are here to promote this and we hope the public will continue to embrace cycling as a way of moving from one place to another," said KCCA's Akankwasa.

Gerald Tenywa, an environmentalist living in Kampala, believes that e-mobility is part of smart cities which most of the world is aspiring to attain.

“It cuts down on transport costs, and helps people, goods and services to get to their destinations in a short time within the city,” he said.

According to Tenywa, e-biking also cuts down on emissions, some of them blamed for the changing climate.

"We have many small cars driven by one or two people. They can easily do that on a bike."