Banda, the ‘lost city’ where no one rules
KAMPALA <br><br>Eight kilometres from the city centre, on the Kampala-Jinja highway, lies Banda town, where the ‘lost city’ is found. The city can be seen as one moves from the main Banda stage towards the valley to the left. This place lies along the Great East African Railway.
KAMPALA
By Ismail Lugumire
Eight kilometres from the city centre, on the Kampala-Jinja highway, lies Banda town, where the ‘lost city’ is found. The city can be seen as one moves from the main Banda stage towards the valley to the left. This place lies along the Great East African Railway.
The bars and restaurants in this city operate throughout the day. But the ‘lost city’ is very unlucky because it has poor sanitation. Garbage heaps are everywhere. The children happily play in the rotting garbage, fighting for space with well-fed dogs. The place is densely populated.
“Houses here are very cheap, that is why there are so many people,†says Steven Mwami, a resident.
So many faces live here, just like in any other city. “Every morning, hundreds of people, who work in Kampala, leave the city for work and return in the evening,†says Erias Mugisha, another resident.
The ‘lost city’ is divided into two main areas. There is a section for the “rich†and affluent and another for the not-so-rich. The rich men’s section has electricity and the houses are clean, while that for the not-so-rich has mud and wattle houses.
“Housing rates in the rich section vary from sh25,000 to 50,000 a month for rooms that have electricity,†says Margaret Lutaaya, a resident. The rates are, of course, much lower than in average areas of Kampala. Rates in the poor men’s section are as low as sh5,000 a room per month.
Hygiene is thrown out of the window the moment one decides to settle here. Being a swampy area, it is very difficult to have standard toilets constructed. As a result, the toilets are constructed near the railway line because the area has a hard ground. The railways pass so near the houses that one wonders what might happen one day if a train derails.
“Officials from the Uganda Railway Corporation have been coming here and warning us about living near the railway line, but we do not have anywhere to go,†says one of the residents.
The ‘lost city’ has almost all the social amenities. There are numerous bars, restaurants and lodges. The bars sell all kinds of liquor, from lira-lira and omuramba (local potent gin), to Uganda Waragi. Near one of the big bars, a stream flows. Some fish can be caught from the stream.
Many of the ‘wonderful’ guest houses are constructed with timber and papyrus. But given the character of the people of this city, nobody is complaining.
Like all cities, there are sexworkers who operate 24 hours a day. It all depends on choice.
Many people come from nearby areas to enjoy life in the lost city.
Thieves have a field day, breaking into houses and stealing people’s property. However, residents claim that they know every thief around and they keep an eye on them.
“We have vigilante groups that handle the thieves,†Mugisha says.
None of the resident knows where the area LC1 chairman lives. This reporter moved around the ‘city’ trying to find the LC1 chairman or any other LC official in vain.
Residents said they have not elected any. “Do we need him? He will add to our problems,†a resident said.
By Ismail Lugumire
Eight kilometres from the city centre, on the Kampala-Jinja highway, lies Banda town, where the ‘lost city’ is found. The city can be seen as one moves from the main Banda stage towards the valley to the left. This place lies along the Great East African Railway.
The bars and restaurants in this city operate throughout the day. But the ‘lost city’ is very unlucky because it has poor sanitation. Garbage heaps are everywhere. The children happily play in the rotting garbage, fighting for space with well-fed dogs. The place is densely populated.
“Houses here are very cheap, that is why there are so many people,†says Steven Mwami, a resident.
So many faces live here, just like in any other city. “Every morning, hundreds of people, who work in Kampala, leave the city for work and return in the evening,†says Erias Mugisha, another resident.
The ‘lost city’ is divided into two main areas. There is a section for the “rich†and affluent and another for the not-so-rich. The rich men’s section has electricity and the houses are clean, while that for the not-so-rich has mud and wattle houses.
“Housing rates in the rich section vary from sh25,000 to 50,000 a month for rooms that have electricity,†says Margaret Lutaaya, a resident. The rates are, of course, much lower than in average areas of Kampala. Rates in the poor men’s section are as low as sh5,000 a room per month.
Hygiene is thrown out of the window the moment one decides to settle here. Being a swampy area, it is very difficult to have standard toilets constructed. As a result, the toilets are constructed near the railway line because the area has a hard ground. The railways pass so near the houses that one wonders what might happen one day if a train derails.
“Officials from the Uganda Railway Corporation have been coming here and warning us about living near the railway line, but we do not have anywhere to go,†says one of the residents.
The ‘lost city’ has almost all the social amenities. There are numerous bars, restaurants and lodges. The bars sell all kinds of liquor, from lira-lira and omuramba (local potent gin), to Uganda Waragi. Near one of the big bars, a stream flows. Some fish can be caught from the stream.
Many of the ‘wonderful’ guest houses are constructed with timber and papyrus. But given the character of the people of this city, nobody is complaining.
Like all cities, there are sexworkers who operate 24 hours a day. It all depends on choice.
Many people come from nearby areas to enjoy life in the lost city.
Thieves have a field day, breaking into houses and stealing people’s property. However, residents claim that they know every thief around and they keep an eye on them.
“We have vigilante groups that handle the thieves,†Mugisha says.
None of the resident knows where the area LC1 chairman lives. This reporter moved around the ‘city’ trying to find the LC1 chairman or any other LC official in vain.
Residents said they have not elected any. “Do we need him? He will add to our problems,†a resident said.