It’s 11pm. Bar 30 minutes I spent at a customer’s factory in Seeta, a short 13km from my office (google gives 31 minutes’ driving time), I’ve been in the traffic for the last 6 hours. That’s a whooping 4.5 hours of personal productivity gone to waste!
For my precious time, I’ve been a witness to many evils this evening: A “boda” disappear under a 6×4 truck, matatus (“taxi” in Uganda) driving on the sidewalks, pedestrians jaywalking, and policemen soliciting bribes. Apart from the obvious risk – the loss of life and limb, the economic cost is punitive: Traffic jams cost the Ugandan economy USD 800 Million annually; over 2.8 Trillion Shillings.
What would UGX 2.8 Trillion do?
Quantified, it is the equivalent to the combined budgets for the ministries of Health (1.2 Trillion), Agriculture (863Bn) and ICT (300Bn) plus a well equipped secondary school, complete with laboratories at UGX 600M and possibly a primary school at UGX 400M.
Alternatively, one could construct 4,660 well-equipped secondary schools.
Aren’t these figures reason enough for the government to think quick, and act even faster?
July 16, 2018 at 7:19 pm
Oooops
July 16, 2018 at 7:19 pm
You can say that again, Lucy!
July 16, 2018 at 7:20 pm
Jacob, it was not time wasted. Look how much you figured out in that time. Trying to make light of a stressful situation.
July 16, 2018 at 7:21 pm
Lol, brother of mine Jake! Traffic jams make philosophers of simple men?
July 16, 2018 at 7:22 pm
It’s great me time, learning time, self introspection time – turn to audibles, affirmations, self talks, prayers, call your secretary and make plans. Adding to brother Jake ?
July 16, 2018 at 7:22 pm
Whenever travelling back to the motherland comes over the horizon…the first thing that crosses mind and thought are those monster jams…..
Planning travel in Kampala if you plan to cross from konsitituwensi yo Ow’ekitibwa Kato Lubwama MP in Lubaga South to say Bbunga…..on a normal day implies…spending the morning heading there….and the afternoon getting back….whole day gone, out of your ration of 14 day stay….
In fairness, I see a lot of fly overs on the Ntinda and Namugongo side of town, that were not there even a decade ago…..but still….
Kampala’s motoring nightmare is a colossal problem…..road rage scale problem…..with mental health implications (never mind the public health issues of exhaust fumes from 2nd hand vehicles of a certain age roaming the roads unhindered)
Compared to smooth flowing traffic in otherwise far more congested urban metropolises like the Greater London area, utterly inexcusable….
July 16, 2018 at 7:23 pm
nexcusable by every standard, Juan! Especially because the solutions out of this mess have been highly politicized: Buses (with dedicated bus lanes) to replace “taxis,” a ban on boda-bodas operating within the Central Business District, etc. Simple solutions. But do we have the will to change? That’s where the rubber meets the road!
July 16, 2018 at 7:24 pm
Wow what a waste and a painful situation. May God raise up men and women to take the reigns of leadership and stewardship in government.
July 16, 2018 at 7:25 pm
Amen, indeed. Seems to me that this is the long term solution to the short-term mindedness that brought us to the place we painfully find ourselves today!
July 16, 2018 at 7:26 pm
The traffic issue is on another label. It’s surprising that anything gets done.
July 16, 2018 at 7:27 pm
Kampalans are eternal Optimists, Lydia. And that includes my customer;-)
July 16, 2018 at 7:28 pm
True. Imagine how much more they would get done if govt took care of the traffic issue
July 16, 2018 at 7:28 pm
Based on average hours spent in traffic every week day (Mon-Fri), for one working in Kla,a total 52 days per annum is spent in traffic jam.
July 16, 2018 at 7:29 pm
Assuming you started the “Commute” at 5, going to school, and taking into account Uganda’s current Life Expectancy – 55, that works to a total 7 stressful years of life spent gazing out of a taxi window, or 12pct of a Ugandan lifetime. Whoa?
July 16, 2018 at 7:30 pm
I am thinking this would have been perfect for you to do after all that thinking 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQs5oaBGf7w
July 16, 2018 at 7:31 pm
Ha ha ha, that’s heartwarming already, Leslie! Am now the wiser for next time????
July 16, 2018 at 7:31 pm
As a country we must invest and publicize public transportation. In Uganda, a car is more a symbol of prestige and status than functional use. Most salary loans are based on cars. If you notice, people recognise others by the car they drive. When they switch over to another model it is the talk of town. We need to propagate a public transport system based on scheduled time intervals and ask leaders to lead by example and use public transport. This will save Uganda billions of shillings in purchase, maintenance and fuelling expensive machines. Making it mandatory for every road to have a bicycle Lane will go a long way. There is no reason why a University student should drive to lectures. That money is better spent in investment and delayed gratification. Public transport is the way to go since most cars causing the jam are with one or two inhabitants.
July 16, 2018 at 7:32 pm
This right here is exactly the problem.
July 16, 2018 at 7:32 pm
Daniel, just imagine that there are public buses for use in town, can you imagine Hon. Sam Kutesa riding on one or say any other minister using them? Not a chance!
But personally, and many others would like to use the buses if well organized than the PSVs we have.
July 16, 2018 at 7:33 pm
Agree Daniel Karibwije, The Greater Kampala Master Plan actually captures the need for a mass transit public transportation system, replete with special lanes built in the middle of the road, etc. It seems to me though that the Will to Act, and Actual Implementation is, where the rubber meets the road! PS. Just thinking out aloud, can this cause be championed by private citizens?
July 16, 2018 at 7:34 pm
The harsh reality Jacob is that we need a new Government. New Government means new thinking, new mindset, fresh ideas. New wine in old wine skins is taking us no where. New thinking by new thinkers. You guys in private sector have burned the mid night candle paying taxes. The Government needs to fulfill its part of the bargain. Government becomes lazy when the NGO world and private sector do work that should be done by taxes paid. Look at the health sector, NGO participation made Govt lazy and see where we are! We shall get there.
July 16, 2018 at 7:35 pm
Hehehe…tusaba private sector etuyambe???
July 16, 2018 at 7:35 pm
You understand why this road just sets me off atte its the road to my home
July 16, 2018 at 7:36 pm
Whoa, my heart goes out to you, Julie! I just kept thinking about the parents (assuming their young children only go to neighborhood schools) that have to endure this ordeal on a daily basis; Dinner and Breakfast with the family is definitely out the window! From my estimate, even for the best of days, it’d be 3 hours return time. Is that tenable? As temporal as it is, relocating seems to be the pragmatic solution!
July 16, 2018 at 7:37 pm
Jacob I am thinking through relocating seriously. I love my ka house naye I can rent it out
July 16, 2018 at 7:37 pm
You need to take lessons from the imperious Jubilee regime on infrastructure and public transportation planning. We are only happy to pass on our breakthrough strategies to our Ugandan neighbors, Migingo notwithstanding
July 16, 2018 at 7:39 pm
Sam Nyamboga, my erstwhile friend (and formidable foe;-), am the lot wiser to fall in this gaping fox-trap you have laid out for me?
July 16, 2018 at 7:41 pm
My brother Jacob, I apologize on behalf of the government of Uganda and all concerned state organs for the traumatizing ordeal that you had to go through last evening to reach your place of abode.
It is inexcusable, reflects badly on our transport services and more ominously, does not bode well for the future of the sector or the economy of the country.
As of necessity, I avoid the eastern side of town unless I must absolutely go there. And even when I have to, I prefer to conduct any business there after midnight. True story.
Many years ago, I observed a nasty traffic gridlock from one of the high rise concrete boxes in town. I got a thought that alarmed me beyond words. That given the pathetic mechanical state of most of the cars stuck in the jam, if by some means a fire broke out in the middle of the grid, the consequences would be beyond catastrophic.
Those are things that can trigger mass uprisings and bring nations to their knees.
It is going to take colossal amounts of will for this problem to be dealt with with finality.
Handling with kid gloves the impudent blue-band metallic tin drivers, intoxicated boda drivers, and corruptible cops will only exacerbate a bad problem.
I recently read something from nytimes.com that speaks volumes about this calamitous situation.
Most people assume that countries are the products of their leaders when it is almost always the other way round.
The people and leaders of a nation are largely products of their environment. They all tend to reflect the systems through which they rise.
If those systems remain broken, it is fair to blame the leaders for their mistakes but unrealistic to expect a different outcome.
That is where we are at. If we do not dig in for the long haul and use every ounce of our resources to fix the systems, billions, lives, and production hours lost are going to keep piling.
Change needs to come bottom-up, even if this is harder and messier and takes longer.
Have a beautiful day my brother.
July 16, 2018 at 7:41 pm
Profound
July 16, 2018 at 7:43 pm
Now that is worrisome, Peter. I’d never seen it in that light! I agree, change has always gone bottom-up. But when shall the downtrodden masses wake up to this reality? How long will be too long!
July 16, 2018 at 7:46 pm
Wow. I thought Jakarta was bad. Well 13 km max we need only 2 hours.
July 16, 2018 at 7:47 pm
I’ve experienced first hand that Jakarta jam. I even missed my flight on one occasion! What we have here is more than a jam, it’s a gridlock. And that’s where the time fizzles away, Raymond!
July 16, 2018 at 7:47 pm
Thanks Jacob for the figures on this daily inconvenience on our roads. I had always wondered how it cost….but it (traffic jams problem) will only get worse, that one I bet. Imagine some of the gridlocks can be eased with good side roads [they dont have to be tarmacked, good murram can do in the meantime]
July 16, 2018 at 7:48 pm
Daudi, that would count for a quick fix, going by the many side roads on our highways. And those seem to be filling up pretty fast too. I ventured on one of them last night and for that, it took me another hour to rejoin the main road!
July 16, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Let me borrow something from The Ebonies, it is an excruciating conundrum
July 16, 2018 at 7:49 pm
Quant! Quant! Quant!!!
July 16, 2018 at 7:50 pm
Cuando. Cuando. Cuando?
July 16, 2018 at 7:51 pm
?
July 16, 2018 at 7:52 pm
You are asking people to think, process information and act for the best interests of who!!? Good luck with that. 🙂
July 16, 2018 at 7:52 pm
Prince, it’s not a lost cause. Ideas still change the world?
July 16, 2018 at 7:53 pm
Jacob Zikusooka that’s very true. I just wanted to be “that guy” on your timeline! We need a mind shift. Seems to me even the most progressive minds somehow suddenly become twisted once they join the gravy train.
July 16, 2018 at 7:54 pm
Lol Prince, you cut the “that guy” bill well! I was getting worried we had lost a comrade in the fight for Africa’s second emancipation;-) Yeah, there’s nothing as disappointing as seeing firebrands morph into turn-coats. Cuts at the heart!
July 16, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Well it’s sad that our government only turns the other side at such facts mearnt to help it plan better.
July 16, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Totally unproductive. We used to spend an entire day traveling to Rukungiri in the 80s because the roads were in a bad state and we could explain the bad state. Good roads and three hours from Kampala to Mukono or three hours from Mbalala to Namanve is just bad workmanship
July 16, 2018 at 7:56 pm
Good perspective, Dora. In other words the sum total of all the “hard work” is after all a zero-sum game. Our policy makers need to think again. Long and hard!
July 16, 2018 at 7:56 pm
Think. Innovate. Apply. Make sure it works and works well.
July 16, 2018 at 7:57 pm
The people who should listen to intellectuals with such an analysis are busy pursuing individual agendas.
In Uganda, we know what must be done BUT the policy makers are yet to wake up from deep slumber.
July 16, 2018 at 7:58 pm
Jacob, Buy a push bike. you woul there and back in a fraction of that time…