Who is the Slum Lord?

Barely a week into Lent, and we are witnessing a tragi-comedy of epic proportions playing out at Parkyard [Owino? St. Balikuddembe?] market in downtown Kampala that went up in smoke on what is sometimes called "Harsh Wednesday".

First, His Excellency pulls off a surprise visit to the site in what is now becoming the norm for the politicos when a disaster [especially a fire] occurs. Visit the place, 'sympathise' and promise to do something about it. H. E. goes through the routine but this time offers Shs. 1 bilion [slightly more than US$ 500,000 at current exchange rates] which the affected traders can access as loans. He however offers a few words of wisdom as reported by the government-owned New Vision:...[He] stressed that the inferno should be a lesson to traders and city residents. “We should learn from this incident. Poorly planned structures are dangerous. We should critically asses this situation. Luckily, no one died.” According to the President, the fire fighters could not put out the fire due to lack of access routes, which he demanded should be created in future. [He added] planning was critical to towns, if incidents like the Wednesday fire were to be avoided.

Next, within a space of one or two hours, His Majesty [or is Royal Highness, as in the colonial days] also tours the area to 'console' his "subjects" amidst the pomp and fanfare accorded to this monarch, when he comes out of seclusion. These "subjects" are unquestionably adoring of the man [which many times, I think, is often over board]. This is how The Daily Monitor reported:....[He] told the same vendors yesterday that his kingdom could not offer them much help because “the government had constrained the kingdom’s ability by denying it the federal form of governance”. However, his Prime Minister on a prior visit had offered Shs. 5 million [slightly more than US$ 2,500] for these traders to rebuild the same illegal and cramped wooden structures that should have been erased from the face of the city.

Finally, President-in-Waiting checks in a more pragmatic style; with a lorry of timber and other materials for the reconstruction of this wooden slum. He also promised that his party will carry out a parallel investigation into this "suspicious" incident. Since there are no answers to be expected from H.E. apart from hot air and empty words.

It is should be noted that His Worship had gone down to 'Parkyard' to assess the damage and go through the routine. He was sent packing by the angry traders and only saved from a lynching by his bodyguards and the Police.

Against the backdrop of all these visiting this place in their various capacities. One, is in charge of the country, the other stills feels owns this land by right of birth as handed down from his forefathers [which is preposterous considering that Kampala can no longer be considered part of Buganda Kingdom under a federal system of government], another acting like what he would do if voted into State House, and the other one by virtue of his occupancy of City Hall.

Meanwhile, just a stone's throw away, parts of a building under construction caved in and killed 15 workers. No visits to the place, no sympathies, no promises to get to the bottom of the matter....and no one billion shillings.

H. E. talked of planning, and has one of the 70 fatsos in his bloated cabinet directly in charge of urban planning, and has seen the capital grow into a confused unplanned mess in 23 years at the helm. His Worship wakes up everyday to go to City Hall to work on affairs on the city. His Majesty [or is it Royal Highness] only lamented and waved to the adoring subjects while President-in-Waiting brought material to rebuild the unplanned market with no access routes.

So, who is the lord of this slum?

Since this is Lent, let us reflect on the report by UN HABITAT State of the World's Cities 2008/2009 that was released this week. It states that the rate of change of the urban population in Africa is the highest in the world...the region is in the early stages of its urban transition, with an estimated 38% of its population classified as urban; urban growth rates in Africa are the highest in the world (3.3% per year between 2000 and 2005).