Wandegeya Market is a missed opportunity

What you need to know:

  • For a facility of that size to be relegated nearly entirely to vending fresh bananas, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, roasted chicken and the sale of second hand clothes and hair salons is an embarrassment. Food vendors stand outside the market to urge passersby inside and once a month, clothes and other items are displayed in front of the market to raise rent. Vendors in containers outside the market appear better off.
  • Social amenities- student library, internet cafés, a community centre, a day care centre, nursery, gym or other healthy facility, student accommodation, a night club or cinema and a hotel could have taken care of students’ needs, night and day.

Undoubtedly, new infrastructure will change Kampala’s landscape and perhaps create opportunities that will improve our quality of life. The desire to modernise our economy with cash from loans and grants by financiers, has given Uganda the opportunity to direct and build the right infrastructure that not only serves the needs of the community, but also promotes sustainable development.

However, without an understanding of the local areas and prioritising the needs of the people for whom the infrastructure is built, we risk setting up expensive gentrified concrete structures with a modern outlook but with little or no value to the end-users.

Let us look at the refurbished Wandegeya Market – one of the new grand additions to Kampala’s skyline. Two mega structures of approximately four stories occupy close to an acre of prime public space close to the city centre near Uganda’s oldest and most populous university, Makerere.

By all means, there was need to build a modern market and perhaps it was a great idea to have the whole of Wandegeya regenerated. However, the new facility is unsustainable. The market is more or less a tidy facelift that was given to Wandegeya as a whole – little value for money.

Should we be free to build whatever we fancy and wherever we choose with borrowed resources and scanty space for public infrastructure? Should we not stretch our minds and imagination to build something spectacular in terms of design and character ensuring that for every inch of floor space and every Shilling spent, great value is realised?

Unfortunately, Wandegeya Market’s ‘gigantic concrete structures’ unlike its neighbours of similar size; Capital Shoppers in Ntinda, and Ham Towers (to a less extent), does not attract people to go there.
It is an illustration of a restrictive system of physical planning, a top down approach to development rather than bottom up that does not embrace comprehensive, holistic planning.

For a facility of that size to be relegated nearly entirely to vending fresh bananas, potatoes, fruits and vegetables, roasted chicken and the sale of second hand clothes and hair salons is an embarrassment. Food vendors stand outside the market to urge passersby inside and once a month, clothes and other items are displayed in front of the market to raise rent. Vendors in containers outside the market appear better off.
One wonders if an evaluation of the internal rate of return was ever carried out. Wandegeya being close to Makerere University, business thrives from clientele comprising of a largely youthful and school going population. What a difference it would have made if the planners had teamed up with the local community to create a landmark building that is relevant to all stakeholders in the community. Balconies and glass displays showcasing the inside would have attracted passersby into the market.

A large basement could take care of Wandegeya’s parking problems. Anchor tenants such as banks, a variety of restaurants, a bakery, pharmacies, clinics, fresh foods, fruits and vegetables market and a supermarket.
Social amenities- student library, internet cafés, a community centre, a day care centre, nursery, gym or other healthy facility, student accommodation, a night club or cinema and a hotel could have taken care of students’ needs, night and day.

Natural light from an open design minimising use of electric lights, harvesting rain water from the roof tops for use in the toilets and bathrooms could have been a more cost-effective option in the long-term. Therefore, for future public projects, let us have an understanding of the local area and the ‘people’ as the benchmark for development. Let’s ensure we get value for money and incorporate sustainability as the core development strategy.

Ms Kakooza is a planner and alumna of
Kingston University School of Planning,
Surveying and Architecture.
[email protected]