Before he won the Kampala City Lord Mayorship, Ronald Nsubuga Balimwezo, who belongs to leading Opposition party, the National Unity Platform (NUP), said, however inconvenient it was, the time was ripe for Opposition leaders in the capital to face reality and work with the executive structure put in place by the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM).
During the campaigns, Balimwezo ridiculed the incumbent Erias Lukwago for being a crybaby who offers no solutions to the issues affecting Kampala residents.
‘I’m an engineer, and I offer solutions. I don’t cry when I’m faced with issues. We must come up with ideas on how to make Kampala better,’ Balimwezo, the former Nakawa East legislator, said during the campaign.
For the 11 years Lukwago served as the capital’s Lord Mayor, he always framed himself as the shield, or, in Luganda, engabo, of Kampala against the abuses of the ruling NRM and its agents. Lukwago’s intimate relationship with the people of Kampala started in 2006 when he was voted as Kampala Central legislator. To reach there, he ousted NRM’s Edward Francis Babu.
Kampala’s shield
It was during this period that Lukwago faced off with what he termed NRM agents who were seizing public property. This included Kisekka Market, Nakasero Market, and Owino Market, as well as public schools such as Bat Valley Primary School and Buganda Road Primary School. It was during this time that the Kisekka Market became a site of confrontations between the police and the traders. The violence became common after vendors came to know that the government, Kampala City Council (KCC), under the leadership of Nasser Ntege Sebaggala, had handed over the market to Rhino Investments, owned by Kampala businessman Col John Mugyenyi.
Lukwago became the flagbearer of the interests of the common man in the capital as he sought to ensure that vendors own the markets.
‘In this city, everyone grabs and also grabs something for my people, the vendors. They must own the markets,’ Lukwago said.
Indeed, in 2008, Lukwago leaked what he said was a parliamentary report to Nakasero market vendors. The report indicated that legislators sitting on the Local Government Committee of Parliament had handed over Nakasero Market to Sheils Investments, owned by NRM cadre Hassan Basajjabalaba.
Lukwago’s move, which was ridiculed by legislators as populist, was enough to spark off riots among the traders in Nakasero. As a result of the chaos, vendors often beseeched Lukwago to stand for the mayoral position instead of defending his Kampala Central MP slot. He complied with what the voters wanted and stood as an independent, having allied with Opposition doyen Kizza Besigye. Summarily, Lukwago beat off a challenge from NRM’s Peter Sematimba by taking 64.4 percent of the vote.
A different path
If Lukwago entered City Hall on the premise of asserting the interests of the common man, Balimwezo said the only way to solve these issues is by working with the regime.
‘If delivering services for the people of Kampala means talking to President Museveni, then I will,’ Balimwezo said. ‘We need leaders that will engage and work with [the] government, not political pride and selfishness.’
On assuming office, Balimwezo engaged with Attorney General Sam Mayanja, and it’s said they discussed what they termed as investment opportunities for sustainable urban development and infrastructure modernisation in Kampala.
‘This is the first time in history that the Lord Mayor of Kampala is coming to interact with the government. As our President [Museveni] said, there was the campaign period, which has ended. Now it’s time to work,’ Mayanja said.
On his part, Balimwezo spoke about the investors he had taken to the Attorney General, saying: ‘They don’t need any land, yet they offer a solution to eradicate traffic jams in Kampala’.
The new Kampala Lord Mayor said: ‘As a leader, shouldn’t I come and sell this idea? The money is available, and we need support from [the] government and support from everybody so that we can have a vibrant and smart city.’
Unlike Lukwago, who had an adversarial relationship with various KCCA executive directors that Museveni appointed during his tenure, Balimwezo has also created an understanding with the current boss at City Hall, Sharifah Buzeki. The two have inspected roads across the city together, with Balimwezo not criticising the executive wing of City Hall. Balimwezo, in a City Hall meeting, stunned the 18-strong NUP councillors’ caucus at KCCA when he beseeched it to avoid making ‘reckless and unresearched criticisms’ targeting Buzeki or any member of the technical wing.
Balimwezo claimed that NUP takes discipline seriously and that he wants to chart a different path from that of Lukwago. The new Kampala Lord Mayor proceeded to accuse his predecessor of using the rule of law as a pretext to attack the technical wing and other Museveni appointees in Kampala. Balimwezo claimed that there is a need for NUP to show that it is different and not full of hooligans, as its detractors claim.
Bulwadda proposal
Yet Balimwezo’s approach of engaging the NRM has come under question following President Museveni’s order that the Ministry for Kampala and KCCA scrutinise a proposal by businessman Hassan Bulwadda. The proposal is aimed at redeveloping two acres of City Square into a modern, solar-powered commercial complex. Bulwadda’s proposal aims at transforming part of the prominent public space in the heart of Kampala into an eco-friendly real estate development featuring a hotel, shopping mall and other commercial facilities.
In a one-page letter directed to Minsa Kabanda, the Kampala minister, Museveni instructed her to study the proposal, consult KCCA and report back to him.
‘I have received a letter from Hajj Hassan Bulwadda dated August 18, 2026, proposing to develop the two acres at City Square in Kampala into a modern, eco-friendly real-estate complex, with a hotel, shopping mall, etc., using solar power, etc,’ Museveni wrote in the letter.
The President directed Kabanda to study the proposal, discuss it with KCCA and report back. Bulwadda’s August 18 proposal envisions a commercial complex powered largely by renewable energy, with solar power expected to meet its energy needs. If approved, the project would significantly alter the character and use of City Square, one of Kampala’s most recognisable public spaces.
Though Balimwezo claimed that he is willing to work with Museveni to propel what he termed development, he was quick to reject that idea of putting malls in City Square.
‘The President’s proposal to develop City Square is contrary to the 2007 Protective Order. We condemn this in the strongest terms! City Square is the only green open space left in the CBD [central business district]. Our only emergency assembly point during fire outbreaks,’ Balimwezo said this week, adding, ‘We have witnessed fatal fires in Kikuubo, Park Yard and City Arcades. Without open spaces like City Square as a safe haven for evacuation, counting of survivors, and emergency medical response, those incidents will lead to mass casualties from stampede and entrapment.’
Not different after all?
Observers say if Balimwezo concretises his rejection of the development of the City Square, then he would have aligned with Lukwago, who rejected the move by Museveni to allow Hamis Kiggundu to build a mall on the Nakivubo drainage channel. In July 2025, Kiggundu proposed to clean, strengthen and cover sections of the channel at his own cost, with commercial structures to be built above it to enable him to recover his investment. Lukwago rejected the move, saying that it will lead to both an environmental disaster and also flaunting of procurement rules.
‘For anyone to take possession of public property, there are procurement laws that must be followed. To carry out any development on public land, whether to obtain a leasehold or license, there must be a legal instrument to that effect,’ Lukwago remarked.
Despite Lukwago’s protests, Museveni went ahead to endorse Ham’s proposal, describing it as not only ‘imaginative and simple’ but also ‘godly.’
Kiggundu’s project has since generated controversy, with questions raised by city authorities, environmentalists and traders over planning and environmental approvals, the use of public infrastructure and the potential impact on drainage and public access.