Kampala Mayoral aspirants highlight priority areas

May 27, 2015

The Kampala Mayoral race is four months away but aspirants have started outlining their plans if elected into the office in the 2016 general elections.

By John Semakula, John Masaba and Brian Mayanja

KAMPALA - The Kampala Mayoral race is four months away but aspirants have started outlining their plans if elected into the office in the 2016 general elections.

The aspirants are promising to bring order in Kampala, improve public transport system, address youth unemployment and eliminate the sickening traffic jam on city routes.

Those who have confirmed their intensions to contest to the New Vision include Dr. Ian Clarke, Pr. Peter Sematimba (NRM), Hajji Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala and Mohamad Kasule (NRM).

The incumbent Erias Lukwago is yet to announce his intentions while Wasswa Birigwa, a former Mayoral candidate, who was presumed to be eyeing the seat, said he learnt a lesson in the previous race so he wants to go slowly.
Clarke, the Mayor of Makindye Municipality said his focus will be on results, not politicking.

He said to achieve development in the city; the Lord Mayor should have a good working relationship with the executive director.

Clarke observed that under the current term, there have been needless political wrangles which affected service delivery.

He said that as the Mayor, he will work with the executive director to lobby central government for more funds, ensure that budgets are passed, and also to require accountability and results from the technical arm of KCCA.

Other plans Clarke has are developing affordable and low cost housing, expansion of the road network through tarmacking many of the dirt roads in the divisions to open up secondary areas for business and development.

He noted that Kampala has lagged behind with little or no long term public development, which has resulted in a highly congested and dirty city.

“But with continued good governance of the city under my leadership, we could see a breakthrough in public transport, with the development of a bus rapid transport system, flyovers at junctions and underpasses for roads,” Clarke said.

Clarke said his other projects will be to develop the southern by-pass and Kampala Jinja highway, and a public transport system suspended above ground.

“With the right leadership, the next five years will be an exciting period of development for Kampala, because there is existing goodwill from some large donors such as the World Bank, Japanese development agency, the Chinese government and private developers who are interested in public private partnerships,” he said.

Ssebaggala scoffs at Clarke, Lukwago

But Hajji Ssebaggala (Seya) a former Mayor scoffed at Clarke saying that he doesn’t understand the issues of the common person to be elected into the office. Ssebaggala also said that electing Lukwago back into office will be a big blunder.

Lukwago was appointed Mayor of Kampala in 2011 with a popular majority but was fired after less than two years in the office. Ssebaggala said that Lukwago has no negotiation skills to keep the office.

Seya said that if he is given another chance in office, Kampala will shine. He boasted that all the new roads and markets which KCCA has built are a result of the loans he got from donors before he left office.

He said he will create vocational training units in government schools such that school drop outs will be able to employ themselves. 

He added that under his leadership KCCA will buy five acres of land in each of the four divisions where medium level markets will be constructed for those vendors who cannot find space plush markets, like Wandegeya.

Still on the market, Ssebaggala said he will establish joint ventures with Buganda Kingdom to develop their markets to accommodate more people.

Kasule’s vision for Kampala city


Kasule, who was defeated by Sematimba in the last year’s NRM party primaries, has also bounced back.

His agenda is to reorganize Kampala, through involving international consultants. Kasule argues that countries like Turkey, Brazil and Russia went through the same problems, Kampala is facing now.

“The problems we have here are the same problems, Turkey and other countries faced fifty years ago.  I have city development consultants from these countries, who will help us to solve the sewerage problems.

They will also help us to develop slum areas, at lower fees,” Kasule explains.

Kasule is also saying that the city should have technical institutions, instead of universities, to produce graduate, who are job creators.

“All the universities in Kampala city train students how to pass job interviews. Why do we set up technical colleges, which will train the young people to be job creators? I want to set up two technical colleges in Makindye and Kawempe divisions, because the areas are highly populated,” Kasule explains.

The unresolved traffic jam in the city, Kasule is proposing the solution to it. He says the solution is to tax private cars and introduce massive bus transport means.

“When I take over the Lord Mayorship seat, I will persuade the authority members to accept, the taxation of tax private cars. This will force families with many vehicles, to use few. But it is better for the city to have flyovers, to reduce traffic jam,” Kasule says.

Sematimba


Sematimba says solving traffic will be his priority. To work out this, he says he will advocate for construction of circular roads. These will connect all the highways that connect from the city to different parts of the country.  
 
He also promises to work on stopping street parking in a bid to reduce traffic jam especially in Central Business District.

He says he will ensure all new buildings cater for sufficient parking. 

He says organizing and re-planning Kampala will also be high on his agenda.

 “Kampala lacks solid management and good leadership and as such the city has been developed in haphazard manner,” he argued. 

re-planning the city, he is also rooting for the creation a culture of cleanliness in Kampala by providing people with the capacity to get rid of their garbage in their neighbourhoods.

To achieve this, garbage collection receptacles will be scattered every 200 to 300 metres for easy disposal of trash.

“Every business— restaurant or bank — will be given garbage bin at their premises to cater for any trash that might be released by their business or customers. The garbage will then be picked regularly by garbage trucks,” he says.

He claims bodaboda in the city is a big problem yet nothing has been done about them

“Bodaboda cyclists are everywhere and are part of the mess in the city, yet politically they are significant,” he says.

How will he handle them? “Help them (bodaboda riders) understand needs of other road users and sensitize them on things like wearing a helmet and road discipline to reduce accidents,” he promises.

Sematimba also wants to stop digging up of the roads and pavements by telecom companies and utility companies as they work on fixing things like burst water pipes, communication line.

Only after guarantees are made that holes will be covered up to the standards of the city will any of the companies be granted permission proceed with their activities.

“I will also push for policy that requires that special routes and channels for all these utilities like electricity cables, water pipes and optic fiber communication cables are created,” he said.

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