KCCA Initiates Smart City Campaign for Urban Development
World Business Journal talks to Dorothy Kisaka, Executive Director, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), about the progress of major projects and the leveraging of ICT for a more responsive and connected urban landscape.
What does Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) have planned for 2024?
This year, we will progress significantly on major infrastructure improvement projects under the Smart City Campaign. These include the Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Project (KCRRP), where we expect to reconstruct and upgrade more than 80 km of roads. The $288m project is funded by the African Development Bank and the government of Uganda. Implementation of the $610m Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area Urban Development Programme (GKMA-UDP) will also commence in 2024 with a focus on upgrading and constructing roads and drainage, especially arterial roads. As part of our plans, we’re also set to initiate the waste-to-energy project, a public-private partnership, and finalise the design update for the Kampala Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system and the KCRRP, all geared towards implementation by 2025.
In what ways will the land records registry digitisation process aid KCCA and Uganda moving forward?
The digitisation of the land records registry by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development was a major milestone in addressing land management in Kampala and the country. The system has allowed us to have all land titles and the cadastre in digital form. This eliminates double allocations of plots, reduces encroachments, minimises land disputes, and, as a result, reduces the time required to process and obtain approvals for building permits.
The digitisation of the registry also means that entities, such as us, that provide other value-added services can now build on top of the system to serve the clients better. For example, we are now developing the Smart Permit solution to fully automate the building permit approval process. We expect to reduce the processing time for building permits to less than 14 working days once the solution is fully functional, which will go a long way in the cost of doing business in Kampala.
What’s been KCCA’s standout achievement under your helm, and how has the authority tackled Kampala’s needs?
We rolled out the Smart City campaign, enhancing infrastructure with ICT and focusing on technology, infrastructure, and people’s well-being (T-I-P). The Weyonje app gained international acclaim, offering fast access to sanitation services. Initiating urban maintenance initiatives, we enlisted over 3000 unemployed youth and launched two major projects aimed at improving roads, intersections, walkways, drainage, and lighting infrastructure.
