A FAREWELL TO KAMPALA'S SOUL ERA

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For decades, the name Owino has been more than just a destination, it has been a heartbeat. To step into St. Balikuddembe Market was to enter a sensory whirlwind, the smell of sun dried fish, the rhythmic call of second hand clothes dealers and the legendary "human GPS" required to navigate its narrow muddy arteries.



But as the sun rose on March 8 2026, to reveal the mangled remains of stalls near the Nakivubo Channel, a realization set in, The old Owino was fading. The era of the sprawling, informal labyrinth is being forcibly traded for a vision of concrete, glass and urban order.



The recent unauthorized demolitions, carried out under the cover of darkness, served as a violent punctuation mark to a long-running sentence. While the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has distanced itself from the reckless destruction, the message to the 50,000+ traders is clear,  the ground beneath their feet is no longer theirs to hold.

For years, Owino has been a site of  Development vs. Heritage. 

On one side, city planners and private developers see prime real estate that could be a modernized commercial hub. On the other, the traders see an economic incubator that has raised generations of Ugandans, paid school fees, and provided a safety net for the urban poor.



A Loss of Identity

What happens when you modernize a place like Owino?

  • The Price of Entry: High-end arcades and structured lock-ups often come with rents that the average mufumbiro (cook) or mutembeyi (hawker) simply cannot afford.

  • The Sanitized Experience: Owino’s charm was its chaos. It was the only place where a CEO and a student would rub shoulders searching for the same vintage blazer. By organizing the trade, we risk bleaching out the grit and soul that made it Kampala’s most authentic landmark.

  • The Community Fracture: Beyond trade, Owino was a social fabric. It had its own internal justice systems, savings groups (Saccos) and news networks. When the stalls go, the community disperses.

The Inevitable Shift

We cannot ignore that Kampala is growing. The Nakivubo Channel needs management, and sanitation in the old market was often a crisis waiting to happen. However, the end of an era feels bitter because it is happening through displacement rather than inclusion.

The transition from a public market to a private-interest development zone marks a shift in Kampala’s philosophy from a city that accommodates everyone to a city that prioritizes those who can pay the premium.

Final Thoughts: The Ghost of Owino



The Owino era isn't just ending because of bulldozers, it’s ending because the informal is being phased out of the modern African city. We may soon have a cleaner, safer and more vertical St. Balikuddembe. It will be efficient. It will be smart. But as we walk through those new glass doors, we’ll be looking for the ghost of the old Owino, the one that smelt of life, struggle and unapologetic Ugandan hustle.



The era is over. The legend, however, will be told by every Kampala resident who ever found a treasure in the stacks of the Kivumbi section.


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