Part of Kisekka market, downtown Kampala, burnt to ashes on Monday morning, causing untold loss to the affected traders.

Investigations into other major fire incidents in Kampala in the recent past have failed to provide adequate answers, and we don't expect this to be different. However, accident or not, we recognise that fires are to be expected, especially in a crowded place like Kampala. But that is not an excuse for ignoring mitigating factors. Like the ability of the Fire Brigade to limit the damage to a minimum.

In Kampala's case, this is almost impossible, not only because the Fire Brigade are inadequately facilitated, but also because of poor planning, or failure to respect building plans where they exist. It has been reported that at Kisekka market, the Fire Brigade were hampered, among other things, by lock-up shops erected in what should have been access roads.

When Owino Park Yard market got burnt last year, it was reported that the Fire Brigade trucks lacked enough water because some water sources in town had been blocked by unplanned developments.

This is common in the entire city. In our zeal to develop the land, which essentially is a good thing, we have gone overboard by building where we shouldn't. It is all nice when investors are minting money from these haphazard developments, but it is all tears when we lose it all because we refused to adhere to basic physical planning etiquette and orderliness.

For instance, there used to be an access corridor just above what is known as Mini Price, near the old taxi park, connecting Ben Kiwanuka Street to Wilson Road. A few years ago, a huge building was erected in this corridor, making it impossible for fire brigade or ambulance services to access it in case of need!

This planning disaster extends to developments in wetlands. It is just a matter of time before these expensively assembled structures are swept away by floods whose natural channels have been blocked.

Uganda needs investments, but they must be well planned. And where the plans exist, they must be observed to the letter. That is the cheapest way to avoid, or at least minimize, calamities like the one that hit Kisekka market.