Ahmed Didaati
How National Cleaning Day made Kampala feel like the COVID-19 lockdow
The last time I remember seeing Kampala’s roads this quiet was during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Today morning, as I photographed Uganda’s first National Cleaning Day along Bombo Road Highway, the familiar movement of Kampala had almost disappeared.
There were no streams of cars. Few motorcycles moved along the road. Instead, pedestrians walked through unusually quiet streets as police officers and patrols monitored movement.
The silence was striking.
As part of the national exercise, movement of vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles was restricted between 7am and 10am, with exceptions for emergencies, security vehicles on official duty and cross-border traffic along major transport routes. The public had been encouraged to remain in their local areas and take part in the cleaning exercise before normal movement resumed.
Along Bombo Road, I watched police officers direct traffic and stop some riders attempting to continue their journeys. Some roads connecting to the highway were also restricted, creating an unusual calm across parts of Kawempe.
Near Shell Kawempe, the normally busy roadside took on a different character. Some vendors were away from their usual businesses, while young people used the empty road to play football. 
For a few hours, the road had become something different.
Near Kawempe Muslim Secondary School, Tom called on others to come and join the national cleaning exercise. Nearby, a boda boda rider parked his motorcycle by the roadside as the cleaning activities began.
But the scene also raised another question: how many people would actually turn up?
From what I saw while photographing the exercise, some areas appeared quieter than expected, with many people not visibly taking part in the cleaning activities. The empty streets were perhaps the most noticeable image of the morning.
For a city accustomed to traffic, noise and constant movement, Kampala had briefly become almost still.
The government says National Cleaning Day is intended to take place on the last Saturday of every month, from 7am to 10am, as part of a wider effort to improve sanitation, prevent disease and encourage communities to take responsibility for their surroundings.
But on Bombo Road, the first National Cleaning Day was about more than sweeping and collecting rubbish.
It was also about seeing Kampala in a way that residents rarely do.
A city without its usual traffic.
A highway without its usual rush.
And, for a few hours, streets that reminded me of the last time Kampala fell this quiet the COVID-19 lockdown.
For me, as a photographer, these were the moments that told the story beyond the official announcement: the empty highway, police patrols, pedestrians, parked boda bodas, football games on the road and the people who chose to participate or simply watched as Uganda began a new monthly tradition.
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