Kololo Airstrip is for all of us!

I am one of those who regularly used to do their evening runs at Kololo airstrip. First, I used to park my car there, run around the hills of Kololo and return later to drive away. Then one evening, we returned and found that one of my colleague’s cars had been broken into, despite the fact that there is a police post and armed policemen with a full view of the airstrip. We wisely refrained ourselves from bringing up the matter with the policemen, most especially that we had not asked them to guard our cars. I specifically argued that it was wrong for us to assume that the police will involuntarily be interested in looking after our property. From then on a few of my colleagues disappeared never to run in Kololo again, while I decided to design my run in such a way that it always ended at the airstrip for me to stretch on that lawn. That is when I got to know that what I always thought to be a public space is not public after all. Some two police men armed with AK47s like they were going to face the most violent criminal came to me menacingly waving their hands at me and brusquely asked me to leave. I tried to put up a case that this was public and as long as I did not disturb public peace it was alright for me to enjoy the facility. They flatly answered that I was wrong and threatened to lock me up if insisted on carrying on. In this country, you should know when the law turns against you - it is not unusual for those with authority to protect instead choose to use that authority to oppress - I immediately obliged and left. A few weeks (could be months) later I saw a gate erected around the park but since I know that the airstrip was regularly used as independence grounds, I thought that the gate had been erected to control the crowds. How wrong I was, someone in his or her wisdom has now decided to fence off this public space. Probably the guards were not doing a good job keeping us out of there and some one high up has come up with an even better idea to keep we ordinary citizens in a space that is meant to be enjoyed by the high and mighty of these lands. Like one reader of The Monitor newspaper sarcastically suggested; what will happen when we ordinary members of the public want to use that space, ‘ask for the key to the padlock from the nearest police post or apply to the minister of Internal Affairs for permission?” This country’s lack of respect to public spaces is very well documented. Most of them have been sold off or given away. I was astounded when the most ‘honorable’ members of our society turned one of the few public spaces in the middle of town into a parking lot. The importance of public spaces cannot be demonstrated any better than the round about along the Northern Bypass in Kyebando (near Kampala International School). On a warm Sunday evening that expanse of a lawn within the round about is used by kids to play football while adults sit and while away their time. A driver approaching this round about for the first time would be forgiven for assuming that it’s a public park right in the middle of the highway. This round about is a perfect example of how our leaders are not in touch with us the people they lead. It is obvious that people of Kyebando would like to have a park to put to use on a Sunday evening but if any such land was available, the smart politicians of today will tell you that it is good for a hotel or shopping mall. Fears about the independence grounds (Kololo Airstrip) being grabbed and used by some powerful and well-connected person for the construction of luxury apartments though sound far fetched are not unfounded. We all know what happened to the centenary park, the Lugogo grounds and the Constitutional Square was almost lost in the same manner.