BY MOSES SSERWANGA
As if it is
not bad enough for the millions of
Ugandans who continue to wake up in the wee hours of the day to beat the
endemic traffic jams-to drop kids at school and get to work in time, Uganda’s
Capital City Kampala, has also been listed among the 30 most polluted cities
in the world .
According to the World Health Organization, the air
in these 30 cities was found to be the most polluted in 2016 and contains high levels of dangerous particulate
matter, small enough to enter the human bloodstream through the lungs—a problem
that contributes to an estimated 7 million premature deaths each year.
And yes, Kampala the only African city on the list
, is named along side other cities like Jodhpur ,Agra, MandiGobindgrah in India, Tangshan in China, Bushehr in Iran,
Narayangong in Banladesh ,Rawalpindi in Pakistan among others. Although there
are many factors contributing to the dangerous high levels of pollution in
these cities , ranging from steel mills,burning of scrap tires to extract iron,
nuclear power plants , brick manufacturing , for Kampala, pollution researchers
have cited vehicle emissions as the leading cause of air pollution .
But this
should not come as a surprise because in 2014 Uganda imported over 45,000
vehicles with an average age of 16 years or what automotive industry experts
call “end of life vehicles”. So one can imagine the carbon emission levels
caused by these second hand vehicles which in Kampala speak we call ”new”.
According to World Health organization, (WHO), premature
deaths from outdoor air pollution could double by 2050, with the largest
increases expected to occur in the emerging economies of Africa, Southeast Asia and the western Pacific. It
should be noted that air pollution affects the human lungs andcontributes to causes of mortality such as strokes, heart
disease and lung cancer.
That’s why this latest ranking of Kampala among the most polluted
cities in the world should be taken with great concern . The Policy makers must
get back to the drawing board and fix this problem before it gets out of hand.
A review of the existing legislation (Traffic and Road
Safety Act 1998, Investment Code Act, the Income Tax Act, the Value Added Tax
Act, the Free Zones Act 2014, and National Industrial Policy 2010) shows that the highlighted laws only
focus on registration of motor vehicles in Uganda and attempt
to deal with issues of policy related to
revenues from taxes ,ownership and road safety..Unfortunately ,this existing legal frame doesn’t expressly address transport-based carbon
emission standards within the country.
The
takeoff of the green mobility market in Uganda requires a clear government
policy on the limitation or total ban of
importation of second hand cars that are more than five years old. These
progressive government policies will not only help to reduce on the high carbon
emissions in Kampala and elsewhere in the country they will also facilitate the
fast development of a competitive
automotive industry in Uganda.
And much as Kampala City Council Authority, (KCCA) should
be lauded for keeping the city relatively clean and green, they too as major
stakeholders ,should tackle the problem
of pollution head on and rather urgently.
The city planners should look elsewhere in the East
African region and borrow a leaf on how to handle theKampala traffic nightmare. Both Kigali(Rwanda) and Dar
es Salaam (Tanzania) have gone big with their respective new public transport
projects . Dar es Salaam now has a fleet of
210 buses with special road lanes and are faster than the matatus . This has encouraged many private car owners
to leave their cars at home and use public transport
during the peak working hours reducing traffic jams considerably. Kigali also
has a good public transport system which has kept the city free of jams and
heavy air pollution .
KCCA should adopt a similar model to deal with the endless traffic jams and
high level of pollution . It is not far fetcher for the city authorities to
look at other transport alternatives like electric or solar powered buses to
conduct traffic runs around Kampala.
Vehicle electrification is a major step toward
curbing the hazardous transport-based emissions while improving fuel efficiency
.When Engineers at Kiira Motors Corporation, (KMC) unveiled electric concept
vehicles the Kiira EV and the Kayoola Solar Bus the first of the kind on the
African continent not many predicated that electric cars are taking center
stage in the automotive industry across the globe.
Electric
buses for urban public transport, therefore , could help to reduce not only the
sickening traffic jams but also curb air pollution in Kampala. KCCA can partner
with Kiira Motors Corporation to set up electric buses test drives say along
the new Entebbe express highway as they figure out how to solve the Kampala
traffic jam quagmire.
The Writer is Media and Communications Consultant/
trainer and Advocate of the High Court of Uganda.
msserwanga@gmail.com
