Kampala as best city

The little things that matter

Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | A woman walks alone along the street at night. The weather is great and the fruits and vegetables fresh. People discuss the latest political issue without fear, the entertainment scene is vibrant, and the sweet smell of food is everywhere. Everyone appears bold, confident, and friendly.

Michael O’Hagan, a foreign journalist living in Kampala city knows what these little things mean to him.

“It is the people that make Kampala a great place to live,” he says, “People in Kampala are bold, friendly and confident which gives the city a great character and makes for an excellent social life.”

He adds: “Since I moved here two and a half years ago, I’ve made lots of new friends many of whom will be friends for life. I like to cook and thanks to Uganda’s wonderful climate, the fresh fruit and vegetables available are among the best in the world. I really value that.”

But O’Hagan is also aware of a different feeling, especially from the locals.

“Kampala’s rolling hills make for spectacular views – especially at sunset – but sometimes I think people who have always lived here forget to appreciate how beautiful the cityscape can be,” he told The Independent.

It is a sentiment shared by Germany’s new ambassador to Uganda, Albrecht Conze. In an interview early this year, he told The Independent that he found it “amazing” that he could sit outside on the street and have a coffee or walk through any shopping mall in Kampala freely.

“May be many Ugandans don’t see it that way because for you it has become normal to live in a peaceful country despite some other challenges,” he said.

The value of such sentiments came alive recently when Mercer, a New York based human resource consultancy firm, ranked Kampala as the best city to live in, in East Africa. Reactions were mixed and many locals were skeptical.

In its 2018 report published on March 20, Mercer ranked Kampala at position 172, 14 places ahead of Nairobi (186) while Kigali was ranked the third best city to live in, in East Africa, with a global position of 190. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s commercial city is ranked 199 out of 230 cities in the world.

Interestingly, it is not only the “Mercer chaps” who find Kampala more attractive for expatriates to live in. The 2017 Ease of Settling in Index report by `Expat Insider’, a Munich-based human resource consultancy firm, ranked Uganda the eighth best country in the world for expatriates to settle in.

The survey carried out in 65 countries asked participants to rate up to 43 different factors on life abroad with emphasis on personal satisfaction; both emotional (making friends abroad) and factual (personal safety).

Report not serious!

Frederick Golooba-Mutebi, a political researcher and regional analyst who has been living in both Kampala and Kigali over the last 20 years, says the Mercer report is simply “not serious” to rate Kampala ahead of cities like the Rwandan capital, Kigali.

He described what he liked about Kigali: “There is no risk of waking up and finding that someone has opened up a pub or nightclub or even a church in your neighbourhood and that they are happy to keep you awake at night or interfere with your plans to lie in on a Sunday morning as they attend to their clients’ needs or praise their god at the top of their voices with complete mega sound systems”.

Amanda Ngabirano, a lecturer of urban planning at the Department of Architecture and Physical Planning in Makerere University also sounds frustrated about Kampala.

“It is incredibly difficult for people to travel, the anguish on Kampala roads and the flooding when it rains a little bit is still a challenge,” she says adding that unpredictability and inefficiency pile extra costs on city residents.

But a retired Ugandan journalist who has frequently travelled across the East African cities told The Independent why Kampala scores highly for him.

“In this town, you can find women walking with their bags at midnight; that does not happen in other cities. I feel safer walking in Kampala.

“Kampala is one city where a foreigner can say anything about this country’s political issues without thinking twice. There is also some level of tolerance in terms of political dissent and public criticism.

“At Entebbe Airport, foreigners will discuss how corrupt Ugandan officials are or how inefficient the system is and nothing will happen. In other countries, you cannot do that.