New Cities: Let us put new wine in new wine skins

By Eugene Gerald Ssemakula 

There is an old parable in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke where Jesus questions the wisdom of putting new wine in old wineskins, the mode of storage at that time.

The unintended effect is that the new wine in its fermenting process would burst the old skins and one would lose both the wine and the wineskins. Just like the parable above, the creation of new cities should be fashioned in a manner that allows fresh ideas and approaches to guide these cities rather than following a script that inevitably leads to an anticlimax after the excitement and buzz around the new cities has waned. The lessons from Kampala City Council, the predecessor to Kampala Capital City Authority are abounding.

First things first. We cannot wish away urbanization, it's the trend and ultimate trajectory of our country. So, the voices in some circles ridiculing MPs for unanimously (save minister Opendi) approving the motion creating cities are in my opinion misplaced. But wishes and inevitabilities should be accompanied by preparedness.

Yes, there is a process where the districts vying for city status come up with plans and justification as to how such cities will be operationalized. These plans, however, seem to a large extent to only be known by the technical and political leaders at the district and municipality levels. The involvement of citizens, therefore, is critical at the nascent stage of the new cities.

The citizens and eminent persons in the region should be galvanized from the beginning to understand the new reality. What does it mean to have a city status? What are the ingredients of the city status? What is the identity of this city? What is the competitive advantage of this particular city? What makes your city unique? Managing this transition not only by legislation but by the citizens and their political leaders is vital. Examples abound of municipalities that continue to operate like town councils and you wonder why they were given municipal status!

The second aspect should deal with clarifying the legal and political realities that the city creates. The city is at the same hierarchical pedestal with the district. The implication is that we cannot have Gulu, Jinja, Mbarara, Kabarole, Mbale, and Masaka, districts housed in the new cities which raises questions of the viability of the remaining parts of the rural district (thinking of Gulu, Moroto, Kabale, Masaka).

Similarly, the existing municipality will annex some additional territory from the district to become a city. This creates confusion on who determines the interim leadership of the new city, the district council as the highest body, or the municipal council leadership that has expanded into a city? What happens to the affected political leadership whose term of office has not yet expired? These questions am certain will be addressed by the Ministry of Local Government, but the earlier the better to avoid confusion.

The third is the operational aspects of the cities. The cities are placed as regional centres that not only serve and affect the lives of dwellers but in the whole region. A clear example is Kampala where the districts of Wakiso, Mukono, Mpigi and Luwero are adversely affected by their proximity to the city. People who in the day work in Kampala reside in these districts which complicate population-based planning. The planning reality for the city, therefore, needs to take a regional approach to avoid the spillover effect to the surrounding districts.

Last but not least the need for focused leadership is a must. Experience has shown that territories are made or broken by the nature of leadership. The political leadership should be able to bring together all key stakeholders to contribute to the development of the city. Examples abound; Arua has developed a structural master plan for the city, Gulu has a platform dubbed "Focus" where eminent citizens regardless of political or economic standing make contributions on how best the city should be operationalized, while Fort-portal has managed to deal with garbage collection, an omnipresent challenge for most urban entities. This takes leadership.

The writer is a research fellow with ACODE
essemakula@acode-u.org