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DBwambale Profile picture
DBwambale
@TheMutaD
Rivendell| Legal Tech| Law | Infrastructure| Government| Real Estate| Buckley. Menwith. Pine Gap.
Jan 23 • 22 tweets • 25 min read
20 LEGACY GRADE PROJECTS WORTH $20 BILLION that speak to a hope in the future for Uganda.

Recently, my young, passionate and innovative architect friend @2uSIIMEE (ask for his portfolio if you have land in Nabusugwe, Kitukutwe, Upper Konge and Nsasa, or any other place, really, he has you sorted) asked me whether there is anything happening in Uganda that could be celebrated on a list. He also asked that I kindly compile the same.

Honestly, as eternally optimistic as I am, it was a hard request to fulfill.
For two reasons; UGANDA's notorious lack of ambition and grandeur in its dreaming up public and private infrastructure, plus the lengthy period that projects take from ideation to execution.

Outrightly dismissing the thought, I got a few hours yesterday to see whether there is anything worth celebrating. Dear reader, I was also shocked. There are actually some few good things happening in a sea of what seems like hopelessness and regression at times.

Here goes:

1. EACOP

The East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline is a $4.8 billion and more😊 investment that, even before completion, is a mind boggling game changer for the fortunes of the 46 million souls in Uganda.

It is supposed to get complete either this December, 2025 or early 2026. Interestingly, it has changed, to a great degree, the fortunes of the port of Tanga in Tanzania. The great majority of the 1,443km pipeline is on Tanzanian territory.Image
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Image 2. Katosi Drinking Water Treatment Plant

Kampala is Africa's most potable water secure city courtesy of this still ongoing (yes. I know. It was commissioned, but lots of work including the 15 million liter Matugga Reservoir is yet to get done). At a total cost of over €300 million (UGX 1.2 trillion), the Katosi water plant can process 240,000m³ (240 million liters of water per day) helping ramp up Kampala and Greater Kampala's supply to a total of 480,000m³ (480 million liters of water per day)!

Kampala and Greater Kampala, currently need, including with all the water thirsty industrial base, only about 320-330 million liters per day.

Katosi ensures that Kampala is water secure well into the early 2040s, for an estimated population base of 7.5-10 million souls.Image
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Sep 2, 2024 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Why are you looking for Oil?

Build an Aviation Hub instead. The story of how Kenyan governments bottled the race for regional aviation hub and gave Ethiopia an unprecedented advantage.

“At one point in my meetings with Mr Young, the Kenyan engineer says he was asked sobering questions: ‘Why are you people looking for oil? If only you can change your airport into a regional aviation hub, the economic reward would be a million higher than oil benefits."

nation.africa/kenya/weekly-r…Image
Image The American explained that like Atlanta, Nairobi’s location was a big advantage.

Mr Okara says he was told: “If you can upgrade the airport to a point where you have three runways so that it becomes a hub like Dubai to enable you to move huge passenger numbers per year, you would not need oil."
Jun 25, 2024 • 11 tweets • 8 min read
The mental and psychological barrier of @BuniChristopher and his team's doing, is something that needs to be repeated in so many areas of endeavor and public spaces in this country if we are to move forward from the chokehold and tyranny, the marriage of rapaciously greedy politicos and the mentally malnourished peasantry have over any positive progress by its middle and academic/innovative classes.

Buni's explanation in the article below was for his country and also self. A successful country is a series of very many little nuts and bolts coming together in near perfect synchrony.

He explains.

"This came up in April when someone on X [formerly Twitter], asked why the government had failed to take the truck off the road. I responded and gave specifications of what was needed. I said once these were provided, the truck could be driven away in six hours.

I then received a phone call in early May from the Unra enforcement team, asking if I was serious and if I could pull it off.

What were the results of your assessment?

We discovered that critical components needed to get the truck drivable had been stolen.

The engine control unit (ECU), the transmission control unit (TCU), the gear lever, the odometer cluster, also called the dashboard, and the brake discs were rusty. The brakes were also degraded due to exposure to heat over time.

We also found out that the entire back of the truck had sunk into the earth, the reason the vehicle was failing to move.

I am into engines, automobility and mechatronics, robotics, and kinetics, so it was easy for me to assess why the machine was not moving and I communicated my findings to @UNRA_UG"

monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/na… "Could you take us through your preparation?
We had a plan to follow and the team suited up at 9am and we began. We wanted to remove all the tyres and service the calipers and brake boosters to free the wheels, so they could spin. We tried four-wheel spanners, but the nuts were not opening. At this point, the crowd was gathering and some had started saying, ‘we told you so!’...
Feb 6, 2024 • 11 tweets • 3 min read
Not surprised that Uganda retains its position as the best in East Africa and 4th in Africa in the Absa Financial Markets Index 2023, released by @AbsaUganda today. This 7th edition of the #AFMIndex2023 came with the Uganda Macro Outlook that shows UG perform better than expected The performance could have been better but for a decline in Pillar 2, access to foreign exchange, due to a shortfall in the firex reserves at BOU, which as @Opiaiya noted yesterday is as a result of reliance on data that is a bit dated. Image
Jan 7, 2024 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Good morning @assempebwa @kiyagaedwin. This is feedback from a road user. BTW, what's the distance between the lights and how many lumens is it?

"I really don't like to complain, however, the horrible driving experience on the Entebbe Express way after lighting was introduced is Image ...great concern.

I have taken a screenshot ☝️ from one of the videos praising this work.

Observe the dark and bright patterns on the road that look like a florescent tube with low voltage.

This has been caused by a distance between the lamps which can't allow...
Jan 5, 2024 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
You think land is a worthy store of value? Carefully pay attention to Greater Kampala's intense urban sprawl. From 2014-2021 the Matugga-Gayaza-Kira-Mukono (especially Goma Division) quadrant is the highest growth area. With a semblance of planning. Nansana-Wakiso, too sans plans Image The Entebbe corridor, for one reason or the other, is slow growing and, therefore, unlikely to be of use to a speculator. You sink in 1 billion and you will wait 20 years before you get an offer that matches that money.
Mpigi is for those that seek early retirement. Farm land.
Jan 3, 2024 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
@BernardSabiti Let me post a reply I got from someone in the know.

"The pilots are MOSTLY OK.
However, the work environment is non-professional:

1. The quality and personnel given to maintenance, especially in relation to adhering to rigorous recordings and signing off. @BernardSabiti 2. Quality control measures with a fully functional inspectorate of systems maintainance.

3. Lack of Loadmasters to secure the load to avoid deadly incidents such as displacement during flight , ensure the aircraft doesn't exceed its payload, maintain a safe centre of gravity
Nov 13, 2023 • 21 tweets • 4 min read
Kampala's traffic problem will first get worse before it becomes better. Any relief is probably a post 2026/7 or even 8 affair. You see, most off the current roadworks taking place, SHOULD have been done about 5 to 10 years ago. We either didn't have the fiscal space to start on those projects or we were saddled by what were socio-political demands that derailed otherwise good plans. Take, for instance, the KCRRP (Kampala City Roads Rehabilitation Program) financed in the majority by @AfDB_Group.
Oct 30, 2023 • 19 tweets • 4 min read
The history of Uganda is mostly the history of the decisions, indecisions, acts and omissions of three men; Museveni, Obote and Amin. It is obvious that but for Obote's naivety and need to martial up against Muteesa II, Amin wouldn't have happened, unleashing the '66 crisis on us The '66 Crisis, leads to the '67 Republican Constitution, that is so reviled by Buganda, the largest street parties ever thrown in that polity were in January of '71 when Amin overthrew Obote. Amin, would be the monster that would justify the shenanigans of an impressionable...
Mar 12, 2023 • 9 tweets • 2 min read
Most UGANDANS truly don't know what the rest of the world think s or knows about them. The genuine surprise on the faces of first time guests to especially the countryside is strange. In Dakar, Senegal, met a dude who swore that he would retire to UG. Works with the UN system. Recall reading about a diplomat who ventured out of KAMPALA for a day. She kept pinching herself. Like, why no one in Kampala had told her about the countryside. We take so much for granted.
Mar 11, 2023 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Actually, cut some slack for Aceng, Atwine & the MOH. They opposed ishu, Lubowa, from the start. They couldn't justify the cost per bed. The money never went to them. Unfortunately, ishu, too, didn't get most of the money. It is to get reimbursed vide classified expenditure. You may probably ask the defence systems manufacturers and marketers in Israel, Turkey, Belarus, Brazil, Ukraine, SA, UAE & Russia (Uganda does really have a diversified array of weapons) whether the sums paid corresponded to both CE and budge appropriation to Defence.
Nov 22, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Let's do the math. 46 units give $32,000. Each unit is at $695. In UGX (695×3,740) that is 2,600,000 per month! To get a good ROI, annual rent to cost of investment ratio MUST be higher than 0.08. This one gives ($384,000÷$3,900,000) 0.09 or even 0.1. An excellent ratio. But... How many people would pay UGX 2.6m per month in Kyanja?

That's where your street smarts, if you are not laundering cash, come in. Assume a 50% occupancy. That quickly brings your annual rent to cost of investment ratio to less than 0.04!
Nov 22, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Forget the Luweero Triangle. Focus on the Mukono-Kayunga-Jinja Triangle. Heaviest investment in manufacturing & growing (hi @KiiraMotors). It you can crack affordable housing in this triangle 📐, you will have sorted your descendants.
Keep your rent to cost ratio at above 0.08... That is, if your muzigo costs UGX 30 million to build, then charge 250k for a double (living room+kitchen+bedroom+toilet). 250k×12 months=3,000,000. The rent to cost ratio is 0.1 (ie 3m÷30m). In 10 years, you have recouped investment. Junior is now in high school.
Nov 22, 2022 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
Some of the most prime real estate is to be found in the Kampala to Nakasongola, Nakasongola to Bukungu Landing Site on Lake Kyoga, Bukungu to Jinja & Jinja to Kampala.
A perfect quadrangle of fertile soils (& people), manufacturing, education, hospitality, tourism & tech. You could also look at the Rakai-Busia Quadrant that strides the opportunity rich Lake Victoria basin. It has everything one needs. People. Energy. Water. Transportation. Healthcare. Education.
Sep 22, 2022 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Adopted from a friend's exchange with some people on another platform. On Samantha Muhwezi of @TotalEnergies and her role.

Ugandans and their WILLFUL/DELIBERATE ignorance truly amuses me. EACOP is not a Ugandan government only company. The shareholders are UNOC with a 15% shareholding and duly represented on the Board by CFO Muggaga Emmanuel, CEO Prosscovia Nabbanja and CCO Kamuntu Gilbert. Joint Venture Partners (Total 62% and CNOOC 8%) and the Tanzanians at 15%.
Aug 25, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
A Central Nervous/Governance System that feels each other's pain as prescribed by one of our seniors and people would get back to excellent manners as proscribed by the elders. First port of call? Do away with the obnoxious sirens & convoys. Then, the govt fleet. Small steps. Go on to ask; why buy a $200,000 vehicle for a Commissioner who can afford one instead of a 16-slice CT Scanner per district? We don't need the government fleet to deliver MOST services. And, so many other changes.
Aug 23, 2022 • 12 tweets • 3 min read
When TWED Heights Development went to the market to build the TWED Heights Hilton, Nakasero, they had two immediate problems; they needed Class 45 concrete and needed a 90-meter tall crane. The C45 concrete was quoted at $450 per cubic meter. The crane would go for $15k a month! The proprietor, wisely, opted to buy his own crane for $85,000. This was in 2018. almost 5 years ago. 60 months. A crane is really a matter of the masts and counterweights. If he wanted a taller one than 90 meters, he could always buy more masts. He dodged a bullet.
Aug 23, 2022 • 7 tweets • 2 min read
LOTIS TOWERS has over 300 columns. Only one or two are likely to have failed. What could be the problem? ROKO Construction and Symbion, the supervisors NORMALLY take their responsibilities seriously. If only1/300 columns fail, the problem could have been with the batch... of concrete supplied by the sub-contractor for concrete. I am told LOTIS TOWERS used C25 concrete. The guys at ROKO usually supply marginally higher, say C25.5. If there is a failure of C25.5, it could go down to 17 or 18. There is doubt that even 10/300 columns when tested...
Jun 19, 2022 • 4 tweets • 1 min read
"State owned Uganda Air Cargo Corporation (UACC), is seeking to acquire an A330F and a mid-life 777 as part of a US$266 million resuscitation plan that will also see the purchase of 737 Combi and a 737-800 in the near term."

airinsight.com/uganda-air-car… According to the plan, the cargo operator will receive a US$103 million injection in the financial year that starts July 1, 2022. The funds will, among others, be used to purchase a mid-life Boeing 737-400 (COMBI), a Boeing 737-800F and an Airbus 330F. The 737’s will be
Mar 27, 2022 • 8 tweets • 2 min read
The Kenyan military has some of the brainiest guys of any military in Africa. @kdfinfo has MANY mid level officers with PhDs in serious disciplines. They should leverage these skills. Apart from ship building, we need them in armaments and the aviation field. Black Africa shouldn't go to sleep. We cannot keep changing source markets every time the peeps in Europe have a quarrel amongst themselves, which is, ALWAYS. Now, we shift from Russia to Turkey or France & Germany. Like the Egyptians long realised, nothing beats local capacity
Mar 25, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This is Entebbe International Airport's old cargo building that is due for demolition in two weeks. All cargo related matters now transferred to the new 20,000 square meter 100,000 metric tonnes per year capacity, new cargo depot. ImageImageImageImage EBB (IATA code for Entebbe) or ICAO (ICAO code) has arguably had the worst/most neglected infrastructure in the old East African region that militates against a great/enhanced passenger experience. Ugandans deserve a terminal where they can take selfies without shame.