KAMPALA, Feb. 27, 2026 — While Ugandans talk about wanting to go and see the "New Kampala," free from street vendors who crowd the city and make it a hub for pickpockets, the reality on the ground tells a different story. On Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, the scene along Namasole Road in Makindye was a perfect, painful example of a city trying to reach the future while its tires are stuck in the mud.
Namasole Road, once a busy stretch opposite the famous Calendar Hotel, has been neglected for two years. Today, it is almost impassable.
For motorists trying to connect to Entebbe Road at Najjanankumbi, the road is a trap. For Calendar Hotel—a legendary music venue since the 1990s—the mud is a business killer. Musicians and fans are staying away, not because the music stopped, but because the road did.
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| Motorists navigate deep mud traps on the impassable Namasole Road Photo by Timothy Kalyegira |
One image from that Friday stands out: a brand-new Spiro electric motorbike struggling through the deep slime. It is a powerful symbol of our lives in 2026. We buy the latest technology—sleek smartphones and eco-friendly bikes—but we use them in "shabby" surroundings.
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| Sleek electric motorbike remains painfully stuck in the past Photo by Timothy Kalyegira |
"It is like the well-dressed women we see every morning in Kampala; they wear beautiful high-heeled shoes but must pick their way through filth to get to work," says one Ugandan journalist. The lesson is simple: modern technology works best with modern facilities. Without good roads, even an electric bike is just another vehicle stuck in the mud.
The most shocking part of this story is the distance. If you travel just two kilometres from the mess at Namasole Road, you find yourself on the world-class Queens Way flyover.
The contrast is "day and night." One part of the capital has smooth, multi-billion shilling asphalt, while a short walk away, residents are wading through "lakes" of water. Although a signpost at the site suggests that work is coming, there wasn't a single tractor in sight when these photos were taken.
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| Road works sign stands over years of infrastructure decay Photo by TImothy Kalyegira |
The image of a Spiro bike fighting the mud under the shadow of the new flyover, makes one realise that this is the story of urban Uganda. We are a nation of "Sleek Phones and Shabby Roads." We are logging into the 5G future, but our feet are still firmly planted in the potholes of the past. Until the "New Kampala" moves beyond the flyovers and into the neighborhoods, we will remain a city that is brilliantly, painfully, Stuck in the Future.
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