Here in Africa, you’re sometimes met with a wall of problems. And as soon as you’ve solved one problem, the next one arrives. We had to apply for a permit the other day; we used to do this by going into the relevant institute’s office. But nowadays, it has to be done through their website.
What I found hard to grasp, is that it seemed as if this authority had never tested their own website. I had to fill out some forms and upload them. But the system said that my application was incomplete. I had to go back and download the remaining forms.
When I tried to submit those, I received a message which said that I couldn’t upload the same application twice. In the end, I just went into the office like we used to, to see how far I could get by simply going from one counter to the next for a day.
Speaking of walls, if you build one here, you may find it demolished one day. A dual carriageway is being constructed on the north side of Kampala. Anyone with a home or garden on Uganda Nation Road Authority’s land is to hand over their property as per immediate. And if you don’t do it, they’ll demolish the wall around your house, or even your entire house itself, or part of it.
So, nobody understands how it’s possible that there’s a little house, partially situated on the road, which the builders have been carefully working around for nearly two years now. To make that happen, a house owner will need to have a lot of power or know someone high-up. The future construction of the southern ring road is also going to cause trouble for the government.
Nothing has been done about any type of infrastructure in the city for nearly fifty years, which has led to lots of people building without any planning permissions. So when they’re going to construct the dual carriageway that was designed by the British fifty years ago, it will cause a revolution.
Local political leaders will promise people that their houses won’t be broken down if they vote for them. That some people are going to be disadvantaged is for sure. Local leaders often buy votes and when they’re re-elected they don’t deliver on their promises.
Nobody cares whether the national interests are threatened. Now that’s a barrier to overcome…
Feico Smit
General manager Royal van Zanten, Uganda
