Battling the Odds: Poor Drainage, Potholes, Waste Disposal Engulf Kampala Businesswoman

 

Battling the Odds: Poor Drainage, Potholes, Waste Disposal Engulf Kampala Businesswoman

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In the bustling heart of Kampala, amidst the cacophony of car horns and lively street markets, lives Sarah Ajwang, a resilient businesswoman and mother of three. Her small clothing shop has been her lifeline, supporting her family, creating jobs for two other women, and contributing to the local economy. But Sarah’s journey as an entrepreneur is marred by daily battles—fights not against competitors, but against the deteriorating infrastructure and public services of her city.

The Daily Battles of Doing Business in Kampala

Doing business in Kampala is much more to Sarah than just stock and customer management; it is negotiating potholes that become ponds during the rainy season, the smell of uncollected garbage outside her shop, and having a fight to keep the shop safe against flooding each time the rains come. Poor drainage has shaped what once was busy streets into almost impassable rivers and made it hard to reach her shop.

"It's a pity," Sarah says. "When it rains, customers avoid this area altogether. Who would want to jump over puddles or step into muddy water just to shop for clothes?"

 The Drainage Dilemma

The drainage system has indeed been Kampala's headache for some time, and the street on which Sarah's shop happens to fall is notorious for flooding. "A small downpour, and water rushes in from everywhere," she explains. "It is as if the drainage system was not built to support even a few minutes of rain." During one recent storm, the water ran so strongly that it took refuse right from the street directly to her door. She lost business that day, in addition to having to spend hard-earned money cleaning the shop herself to get rid of the stench and dirt.

The Pothole Problem

Potholes are not to be outdone, serving as a source of constant frustration unto themselves. The street in front of her shop is riddled with craters, making driving hazardous. Delivery trucks struggle to make it to her shop often enough, and more than once she has found herself having to pay extra delivery fees because the drivers say their vehicles take a beating just to get to her. "A month ago, one delivery almost didn't happen because the truck driver got a flat tire after hitting a pothole nearby," she said. This chronic problem takes a bite out of her business's bottom line in the form of unforeseen costs that manage only to further whittle down her income.

Rubbish Removal Woes

Then, there's the problem of rubbish: right behind the shop is an open public dump; insects and rats are present as the piles grow higher each week. Garbage collection in the municipality is haphazard, with often days - sometimes even weeks - passing without it being collected. "Sometimes customers comment on the smell, and I can hardly blame them," Sarah says. "I only wish there was anything I could do to improve it."

Resilience amidst Challenges

Despite all this, Sarah does not lose hope. She joined a coalition of local businesspeople working to effect changes in infrastructure. They jointly wrote letters to the city officials, met representatives on the council, and hoped that finally their stories shared on social media would be heard for much-needed reforms to Kampala. "We're not asking for much," Sarah says. "We just want a city where doing business is a little easier, where we don't lose customers because they can't make it to our shops."

A Call for Change

Sarah's story tells about the resilience of Kampala's business community. Everyone suffers because of the infrastructural challenges faced by the city-businessmen and pedestrians alike-but often it is the small business people like Sarah who bear the most. It is a story of bravery and persistence, yet a clarion call for change: better drainage, timely removal of waste, and frequent repairs to roads would make all the difference in the world, not only to Sarah but to innumerable entrepreneurs who build Kampala's future day in, day out.

Sarah remains optimistic, however, that such change is forthcoming. To her, with the cacophony of voices reverberating in the city, infrastructural issues could be addressed-meaning Kampala would be clean, safe, and business-friendly once and for all