Same Fate as Kabalagala? The Rise and Fall of Bandali Rise

Prior to Covid-19, Bandali Rise was the place to be in Uganda. This street annexed on the road that leads to the Bugolobi flats was the ultimate party life street of Kampala. If somebody doubted Kampala’s night life, you swifted them through this street. Then turned around, glanced at them, and popped the question; “you gerrit?” Kampala’s night life has always shifted. It was first in Kabalagala. Then, Kabalagala was the place that never went to sleep. There was Capital Pub, there were all sorts of bars, speak of Al’s bar. Speak of the diverse international community in the area, not forgetting the peddlers of the night. And what was life without having stepped into Deposh? Then came the bombs at Ethiopian Village and the constant raids by KCCA. “Kabalagala night life was never the same after this. The media also branded it as the harlot capital, so some people feared to be associated with Kabalagala,” a former reveller reveals. At around the same time, the Kampala night night temporarily shared spaces around the Railway square, these were the days of Club Rouge. These were the days when the Kenneth Ntaros of this world deserved the Desire Luzindas of every...