{"id":432909,"date":"2011-05-30T18:15:42","date_gmt":"2011-05-30T18:15:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/"},"modified":"2011-05-30T18:15:42","modified_gmt":"2011-05-30T18:15:42","slug":"why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Kampala’s New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Joachim Buwembo<\/p>\n

29 May 2011<\/p>\n

\n

opinion<\/p>\n

Nairobi \u2014 There may be many things that Ugandans do better than Rwandans but running a capital city is not one of them. In fact many times I feel that ordinary residents of Kampala, and several other African capitals I know, should avoid visiting Kigali as the experience can make you hate your home with a passion.<\/p>\n

It is okay for wealthy Europe and America to have better cities than ours but it is quite annoying for Kigali to be 10 times better than Kampala. I have been to Kigali twice but I don’t want to go there a third time as I might end up revealing secrets that will make Ugandan ultra nationalists brand me a Rwanda spy — classified info like Kigali being superbly clean and its roads nicely paved.<\/p>\n

However, I recommend that Kampala’s new Mayor Elias Lukwago and executive director Jeniffer Musisi drive to Kigali — they don’t require visas and it is the capital city nearest to Kampala anyway — for a retreat with the new Kampala city councillors.<\/p>\n

Of course Kampala’s new bosses are widely travelled and Lord Mayor Lukwago has been to Mecca since he was elected, a commendable act as he must have gathered spiritual inspiration there.<\/p>\n

But if they put our national pride aside for a few days, Kampala’s leaders would see first hand how a country poorer than Uganda runs a city where things really work.<\/p>\n

Equally important, they would be away from partisan influences to reflect and deliberate on what is good for Kampala rather than how their different political camps can frustrate each other.<\/p>\n

So far the predictions we have heard about the new city administration say the opposition’s Lukwago will not manage because the council has many ruling party supporters. Morbid! Warped! Perverse!<\/p>\n

Kampala’s new bosses need to know that among other things, a capital city is an international city. We have no right to impose the avoidable mess on nationals of a hundred other countries who are not party to our politics but are spending hard currencies to be in our country.<\/p>\n

We can mismanage our other little towns, chock them with garbage, keep their roads potholed and public transport chaotic. But we have no right to keep Kampala in its present state, for it is not ours alone.<\/p>\n

One thing I really love about Kigali’s physical planning is the marriage of utility and beauty. They are now using a cleverly simple design of hollow brick pavers at the road sides which work well however, vertical or gentle the gradient is, and plant grass in them.<\/p>\n

That way, the tarmac runs through natural beauty and the rain does not carry soil into the road drainage. But I suppose you need to have the drainage before you can protect it, so some lessons from Kigali might be irrelevant to Uganda’s city managers.<\/p>\n

Another great thing about Kigali is the major role their national social security fund plays in developing the housing sector. Maybe Uganda’s new NSSF boss could also benefit from a trip to Kigali.<\/p>\n

Joachim Buwembo is a Knight International fellow for development journalism;<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nMore News on allAfrica.com<\/strong><\/legend>\n<\/fieldset>\n

AllAfrica – All the Time<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n

See more here:
\nWhy Kampala’s New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Joachim Buwembo 29 May 2011 opinion Nairobi \u2014 There may be many things that Ugandans do better than Rwandans but running a capital city is not one of them. In fact many times I feel that ordinary residents of Kampala, and several other African capitals I know, should avoid visiting Kigali as the experience can make you hate your home with a passion. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":432910,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-432909","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-local-news"},"yoast_head":"\nWhy Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Why Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Joachim Buwembo 29 May 2011 opinion Nairobi \u2014 There may be many things that Ugandans do better than Rwandans but running a capital city is not one of them. In fact many times I feel that ordinary residents of Kampala, and several other African capitals I know, should avoid visiting Kigali as the experience can make you hate your home with a passion.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Why Kampala’s New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-30T18:15:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\"},\"wordCount\":567,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\",\"name\":\"Why Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-30T18:15:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Why Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Joachim Buwembo 29 May 2011 opinion Nairobi \u2014 There may be many things that Ugandans do better than Rwandans but running a capital city is not one of them. In fact many times I feel that ordinary residents of Kampala, and several other African capitals I know, should avoid visiting Kigali as the experience can make you hate your home with a passion.","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Why Kampala’s New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali","datePublished":"2011-05-30T18:15:42+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/"},"wordCount":567,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/","name":"Why Kampala's New Bosses Need to Take a Trip to Kigali - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2011-05-30T18:15:42+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/30\/why-kampalas-new-bosses-need-to-take-a-trip-to-kigali\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}