Why Do We Waste Sadolin Paint On Zebra Crossing's?

There is, something about Ugandan society. One half of us want to get wherever it is we are going like yesterday, and the other half want to get there in an indolent week or two.

When Waitress ambled over to us, there was no sense of urgency about her. She was going to amble over in her own time. She barely made an effort to lift up her feet as she walked. She dragged them - emitting a sound almost like maize being husked in a Kawempe two-bit mill. There was indication that dragging her feet was not anything she had recently learned, for the soles of her shoes – especially the heels were practically non-existent.

Waiters and Waitresses Undergoing Training

Kafunda culture dictates that there is no need to rush. It also dictates that if there is a wall present, Waitress must steer towards it and run her hand on it to wherever she’s going.

Meanwhile in town, people don’t walk with a sense of earnestness. Okay, tell a lie. Blue Collar Worker who lives in places like Namuwongo, Kyambogo and Naguru for example, who walk to work at 5:30am, stride with a determined purpose – thundering down the edge of the roads or the railway tracks at a terrifying speed - almost like wildebeest migrating from the Masai Mara down to the Serengeti Plains. But the rest are on a lazy stroll - holding hands, sharing headphone ear pieces while chortling at whatever they are watching, dragging their feet and moseying without any clear resolve. Sometimes, they just stop dead in their tracks that you end up bumping into them. Sometimes as you try to get past them, you find them weaving all over the place. They never tread a straight line.

People Walk To Work Along The Railway Line

Enter Peter Kaujju, spokesperson for KCCA. Towards the fall of June, Peter demonstrated how the pedestrian walk buttons that are being installed are supposed to work. Basically, at the traffic lights, if a pedestrian hits the button, in due course it changes the traffic lights from green to red thus allowing people to cross the road. These pedestrian walk buttons work perfectly well in Europe because people who drive, respect them as they do zebra crossings. In fact, motorists get fined for parking or stopping on zebra crossings, but here, you can park and block access to the zebra crossing without a care.

Are We Just Wasting Sadolin Paint on Zebra Crossings?

At Kampala Boulevard on Kampala Road, there is a zebra crossing linking it to the Post Office. But zebra crossings according to those who drive – from ministers in their chauffeur driven cars, boda riders, the ‘my cars’ and taxis, are to be ignored because they are in haste and don’t have time to stop and let people cross. You can have an entire nursery school waiting to cross, but not one motorist would stop. They will glance at the kids, wonder why they not in school and simply carry on without a care in the word because they have to get to wherever they are going in the shortest possible time.

On Kampala Road, Crossing From Kampala Boulevard To Post Office Is A Nightmare

Another zebra crossing that's never respected is on Acacia Avenue - crossing from Uganda Golf Club club house and across the road to the first tee. Golfers, golf bag carrying caddies, club officials and marshals, battle through the traffic to get across the road despite there being a clear zebra crossing and an attendant who, fervently waves a red flag to warn motorists of crossing golfers but to no avail.  

Despite A Zebra Crossing Outside The Main Gate Of Uganda Golf Club, No Motorist Observes It

Bodas mount the pavement because getting snarled up in traffic delays them. Taxi drivers undertake and also drive down the pavement or the part of the road that is the pedestrian walkway for two probable reasons. They are in hurry and as taxis, are ‘exempt’ from queuing up like the rest of us.

Without Police Help, Many School Kids Can't Cross The Road Even At A Zebra Crossing

As we draw to the end of the ramble, if we plucked the slow foot dragging Waitress from her kafunda in Wandegeya or Nakulabye, and plonked her outside the subway entrance on Wall Street in New York or at Liverpool Street Station in London during the morning rush hour, or at any zebra crossing, her head would gyro into the most uncontrolled spin. She would probably have multiple headaches, get a fever and go into cardiac arrest at the speed, pace and urgency at which people walk.    

Pictures: newvision.co.ug, kawowo.com, independent.co.ug, news.bbc.co.uk, btvet-uganda.org