By Aggrey Baba
Senior Presidential Advisor on Agribusiness and Value Addition Dr Hilary Emmanuel Musoke (Kisanja) has rallied the people of Uganda behind businessman Hajj Hassan Bulwadda’s proposed City Square development, arguing that the project presents an opportunity to finally give life to a plan for the heart of Kampala that dates back more than a century.
Kisanja’s intervention comes as the young tycoon’s proposal to develop the prime city-centre space continues to attract debate, particularly over the future of the existing greenery and whether such a strategic public space should be commercially developed.
Dr Kisanja says the original physical plan for Kampala, drawn by the colonial administration between 1901 and 1902, envisaged the area as the site for major Government administrative buildings rather than leaving it as largely open land.
According to Kisanja, that plan was never realised after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 created financial difficulties for Britain, leaving the proposed Government headquarters undeveloped. More than 125 years later, he sees Hajj Hassan Bulwadda’s investment proposal as an opportunity for a local entrepreneur to give the strategically located site a modern purpose.
Hajj Hassan Bulwadda’s plan is for a state-of-the-art commercial development, with a shopping mall and hotel forming the core of the project.
The presidential adviser believes such an investment could give thw capital city a major new commercial and tourism landmark while putting prime land at the centre of the capital to productive economic use.
The economic argument is one of the strongest points in his appeal.
Dr Kisanja says the proposed development could create more than 2,000 direct and indirect jobs, opening opportunities not only for workers involved in construction and management but also for businesses supplying goods and services to the facility.
He also sees a wider benefit through increased economic activity and revenue, with a major commercial complex potentially expanding the tax base and generating additional income for public institutions.
The project, in his view, would therefore go beyond the construction of a building and become part of Kampala’s broader urban and economic transformation.
The environmental argument, which has emerged as one of the major areas of resistance to the proposal, is also addressed in Dr Kisanja’s assessment. He challenges the description of City Square as a major green space, arguing that the existing greenery is limited to scattered grass patches and should not be treated as though the site were a forest or botanical garden. More importantly, he says the proposed development can incorporate greenery rather than simply eliminate it.
The concept, as Dr Hilary presents it, includes modern green architecture such as rooftop gardens, vertical green walls, landscaped terraces and preserved green areas around the development.
This, he argues, could result in a more organized and better-maintained green environment than what currently exists.
He als places the proposal within the wider question of whether Uganda should encourage successful young entrepreneurs to invest their wealth in major domestic projects.
Dr Kisanja presents Bulwadda as an example of a young Ugandan businessman choosing to put his resources into a large project at home rather than investing his wealth abroad. That, Kisanja believes, should form part of the national conversation around the City Square proposal.
The proposed project, for the presidential adviser, represents an opportunity to combine investment, employment, urban development and environmental design in one of Kampala’s most strategically located spaces, arguing that Uganda should not automatically reject such investments simply because they seek to change spaces that have remained underutilized for generations.
Instead, the proposal should be viewed against the potential economic value it could create and the possibility of transforming the centre of Kampala into a more modern commercial destination. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
