Juba City Council should keep its promises

Following the removal of the former Mayor, Kalitso Lado, the new administration of the Juba City Council promised to pursue its projects to transform Juba into a standard modern city.

Among the administration’s other promises was to rebuild the dwindling trust between the city council and the business community in order to improve their relationship. Several officials within the Central Equatoria State government and the Juba City Council blamed the former mayor for making traders bitter against the state authorities.

However, since the removal of Kalisto Lado, it has been almost one month now since the Juba City Council seems to have disappeared from the public eye.

Previously, the presence of the Juba City Council was felt everywhere through the restructuring of the buildings along the main road, rubbish collection, and reorganisation of the markets. But in less than one month, these elements of the smart city seem to be fading off.

The littering of the garbage along roadsides and markets is slowly coming back. The old tradition of dumping rubbish in the middle of the road is finding its way back, especially within the Custom market and Gudele highway. Some of the structures that were demolished from major thoroughfares are being rebuilt by their owners.

It is a clear demonstration that after the removal of Kalisto, the new administration of the Juba City Council may have been forced to compromise on some of its development agenda, purposely to please the angry traders and the vendors.

 It will have to review its previous activities and determine how best to approach the planned development projects. This will involve which agenda it will pursue and which one it will have to abolish to restore the deteriorated relationship with the traders. Whatever the case might be, the dream for a smart city ought not to stop.

The new administration of the Juba City Council should continue the fight against unnecessary dumping of garbage on the street and marketplaces. The idea of the smart city is the most admirable agenda that the administration must pursue to make Juba City mentionable among the capital cities around the world. This cannot be possible if the authorities do not take the courage to implement some of the important elements.

The residents in Juba need to see the Juba City Council visible on the streets, in the residential areas as well as in the markets to remind the citizens to keep Juba clean. 

Many of us often talk about Kigali as the smartest and greenest city in Africa, but this did not come out of the blue. It was through hard work and commitment that changed the image of Kigali, and it is achievable of Juba. But it is only possible if the new administration of the Juba City Council keeps its promises.