Ibrahim Nkonge

Kampala, the Sin City of East Africa, Where Extremes Clash In my upcoming column in @The_EastAfrican, I reflect on Kampala, and indeed Uganda, as the "sin capital" of East Africa. It is a place of extremes, which seems to be afraid of the middle ground—a place where ugliness sits beside great beauty. Kampala witnesses easily the most extreme police state violence of any capital in the region, and it is a place where torture is live-tweeted by security officials while their sycophantic minions cheer. Yet it has historically also had one of the most extensive practices of people within the state and ruling party helping the persecuted escape into exile. This barbarity also sits beside cultures that fetishise gentleness and politeness. It has the most extreme party scene: over-the-top and extravagant, as though there were no tomorrow. The women are easily the most adventurous and go-to-hell dressers you will find in the region. Yet it is also the most anti-liberal in some instances, with one of the most extreme "kill the gays" laws in the world. Uganda has the lowest levels of irrigation and fertiliser use in core East Africa, yet it also has the region's highest calorie intake. It is widely noted for containing nearly half (47 to 48.95%) of the entire region's arable land pool, but its north-eastern Karamoja region is frequently ravaged by famine as politicians from its more fertile regions steal the supplies and dams meant to end its suffering. Its ruling NRM party has historically clung to one of the most inclusive, broad-based political ideologies, whilst simultaneously practising some of the highest levels of tribalism and nepotism. It was one of the dirtiest and most potholed capitals of "Old East Africa", but it is now witnessing the most ambitious attempt to clean up the grime alongside the most vibrant cultural and artistic renaissance. If it were a creature of local lore, it would be a manifestation of the Chwezi twin spirits—a single entity split between radical blessing and dark destruction.