Wandegeya. Bwaise. Nakawa. (Am not a TAXI conductor calling for passengers) These city points have fed we bachelors, university students and anyone lazy enough not to cook or broke to dine out. From roasted chicken, Katogo, pilau, the famous Rolex and a cup of tea, porridge or Bushera, your preference is always taken care of.

Street food fed me for over five years and I write this article today with pain that all these mini street restaurant chefs have not been helped to move their businesses to the next level. Mid 2015, KCCA (Kampala City council Authority for non Ugandans and those who care little about this country) started a campaign to remove street vendors pushing them towards a more organized working space, Wandegeya market. This is a good thing, but again not most can afford the rent or the loss of the ‘am in hurry’ street customers. If only we start creating new innovations rather than always depend on the old tactics and styles of solving problems.

Day by day, street Food in Kampala becomes a culture  and most city dwellers prefer to buy a Rolex from the street than enter a market or restaurant for a meal. A walk with your girlfriend, grab a Rolex and walk on home. The feeling of sitting in an open space with cars, people and the night zooming past you is a million shilling experience. New York, France, UK and so many cities have turned street food into a clean and lucrative food business. Kampala needs to join this club!

     

The one thing that used to throw me off street food was hygiene. ( I know..that dirty guy making you a Rolex with those hands that have been…God knows where! Touched money and other unmentionables). To be able to enjoy a meal. You have to be at peace with how it was made ( Have you ever checked that Kitchen from your favorite restaurant?). GET this, food is food and fortunately there are some folks that have really upgraded their game in hygiene, customer service and packaging. Making street food ‘corporate’ as the saying goes.

So after CNN made the ROLEX popular to the world, Uganda is embracing the so called broke fast food  and now come this August, 2016 a ROLEX FESTIVAL is coming up. (Banage Ugandans can wait for permission to embrace their things!) Don’t be left behind, get with the program ROLEX. I f you thought PIZZA HUT was big, wait for ROLEX CORNER. Now that the minister of tourism is launching rolex as a tourist attraction, things won’t be same again.