Mainstory: Kampala’s night life: A thin line between work and play

Every city in the world seems to have an identity that is distinct from other cities. A city’s identity may be as a result of the government policies, especially the city council but in most cases, it is simply all about the sub-culture of the people living in it. This culture clearly puts these people apart to the extent that even when they move to another place, one is likely to recognise them as foreigners and more so from a given place. If you take a quick glance at the region that is now referred to as the East African Community, you will find that Kigali, Kampala, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and Bujumbura are quite different from each other. When one talks of Nairobi, your mind may quickly race to the business Kenyans, the high crime rate and Sheng Swahili spoken by most youths. Dar makes you think of the high temperatures and that Swahili sanifu spoken by Tanzanians. The Tanzanians at the coast speak it in a more leisurely tone. Kigali is more known for its clean streets and general social order. I don’t know much about Bujumbura but the elusive peace caused by sporadic violence between rebels and government troops does not give it a very great image. As for the subject today, Kampala is known by many for its filth in the streets which is largely a problem of a huge population pouring into the city each day and thus overwhelming all the social services. Others know it as a city where work never comes to end and the same applies to partying. It is a truly 24 hour city throughout the year. The night life It is always considered a very big travel sin for one to visit a place and not take time to explore what its night life has got to offer. Actually, one time when the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddhafi was in Kampala for a visit, he spent most of the night being secretly driven around the streets of Kampala to get a hands-on feel of what the city had to offer once the sun went down. Having spent over four years in Kigali, my Kampala credentials have gradually been diminishing. I now feel more of a foreigner in Kampala, a city that accommodated me for the first 22 years of my life. The fact that Kampala now appears foreign to me is what gave me the inspiration to pen this piece of writing. My recent sojourn to the capital of the ‘Pearl of Africa’ revealed two big certainties; one is the fact that in Kampala, the difference between day and night is simply the absence of sunshine after 6:30 pm. The second is that public holidays, weekdays and weekends are easy to tell apart if you look closer to your calendar than to what people are doing. The city’s business class seems not to retire at the end of the day but keep going on with work. It has now become impossible to tell the difference between street children and street vendors as both now spend the day and night on the streets. One is able to buy almost anything at anytime of the day or night. Meals I have a habit of boarding the late night buses whenever I am returning to Kigali and this is one way of experiencing what Kampala feels like at night. At night, I was shocked to find a lady selling hot food on the street in the open. She had about twenty customers who were sitting on benches munching away at food without minding about the passers-by. The people who come to eat at such places are usually the numerous labourers who are involved in the construction of shopping malls. These are built day and night and almost every month one can notice a new structure in the city. There are also very many fast food places that remain open for 24 hours. These usually provide what Americans love to call junk food. This is usually a combination of French fries (potato chips), chicken, liver, pilao and soft drinks. One can also get a cup of tea/coffee at any of the restaurants and coffee shops. Wandegeya, a suburb near Makerere University is one of such hot places. Others are found in Ntinda, Kansanga and Kabalagala. South African eating chains like Nandos and Steers also remain open till late in the night. One can choose to eat from here or have the food packed and eaten as ‘take away’. Transport One of the things that have made Kampala’s night life a phenomenon is the availability of cheap public transport at all times. Commuter taxis remain on the roads ferrying passengers from work, from bars, to bars, and back to their homes in and around the city. Taxis are joined by the ubiquitous boda bodas (motorcycle taxis) which work throughout the night. At one point the Ugandan police decided to bar them from operating beyond 10:00 pm after realising that they had become security risks. However this has simply gathered dust on the shelves as these guys are back on the roads. Cabs are also available for those looking out for a little comfort. Transport though is not just limited to city travellers. People travelling far from the city will also be able to get transport. Jaguar, Gaso, and Amahoro bus companies all have buses that depart from Kampala at 1:00 am in the night. Kampala Coach has got a bus that departs from Kampala at exactly 4:00am heading to Kigali. They have another bus that leaves for Juba in Southern Sudan at 2:00am. Travellers often partake in the night life before heading to the bus stations. Others travelling to Northern Uganda towns also get their buses in the wee hours of the morning while those entering Uganda from Kenya, Tanzania and Burundi also often arrive in Kampala close to midnight. Entertainment This is actually the biggest attraction the city has to offer. A Kenyan friend of mine once told me that Ugandans love Raha (Swahili word for life). In December last year while in Tanzania, I heard a similar revelation from a Tanzanian who had lived in both Kenya and Uganda. In Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda people like to drink from the pub closest to their home. The rationale is that after all the beers are all the same where ever you go. This is not the case in Kampala. In Kampala, one does not just go out to drink, he/she is expected to go ‘bar hopping.’ Bar hopping in Kampala simply refers to the act of having five bottles of beer from six different bars in one night! So for the average corporate Ugandan living in Kampala, an evening starts by going to one bar, having a drink and may be a plateful of pork with his colleagues. Shortly after, one of them will complain that the place is not ‘happening’ so they will move to the next bar. This sequence is repeated several times often ending with a move to the discotheque. Even here the patrons may leave shortly after and go to an eating place or another bar. A journalist friend of mine working with The Independent magazine assured me that the fun in Kampala is not in how much alcohol one can imbibe but how many places one can visit in a night as this gives one the chance to meet several people and be able to talk about all those numerous places the next day at work. To the average ‘Kampalan’ a happening place is a bar that has drinks selling at twice the market price, very loud contemporary music blaring from the speakers, and no seats! So you find people craving to go to such places especially on weekends so as to be a part of the urban crowd that can afford to be there. It is more of socio-economic statement to appear in these places than anything else. These include places like Mateos, Capital pub, Bubbles O’Leary, Garden City Complex, Ground Zero, Owenz Bar, Steak Out, Blue Haze, Catch Me, Cheese Bar, and Kyadondo Rugby Club among others. Partying in Kampala is a daily agenda. Night clubs are open on most weekdays; Thursday is a day many love because of the ‘Comedy Nite’ at the National theatre gardens. Concerts have also become a weekly item on a party animal’s calendar. The city that always has its musicians performing at different clubs almost every day has this year been a host to numerous international stars like Brick and Lace, UB40, Akon, Kirk Franklin, Collie Budz, Elephant Man, Kci and Jojo, Wyclef Jean, and Shaggy. Others like Mr. Vegas, Sean Kingston and Rihanna are expected soon. Generally, night life in Kampala has managed to be what it is because of the availability of services like 24 hour ATM machines every where, Fuel stations and eating places operating throughout the day and the night and transport to most destinations. The security has also improved now that armed policemen are seen patrolling most streets at night. I was left numb and wondering whether with all the partying that goes on daily, people would be left with some savings at the end of the day. Yours truly ended his nocturnal adventures in East Africa’s party capital by boarding a bus to Kigali at 4:00am. Contact: ssenyonga@gmail.com