Whether it is Montebello for the Three Amigos summit, Brussels for a NATO heads of state meeting, or, this week, Kampala for the Commonwealth Heads of Government, a large multinational meeting can be a big headache for the local population. Roads and facilities here are shut down for security purposes creating tremendous traffic tie-ups and long delays.
To try and alleviate some of the downtown congestion in Kampala, the Ugandan government declared a two-day national holiday today and Friday.
Canadian Press’ Alex Panetta, who is among the journalists travelling with the PM this week in Uganda, picked up on a fun story that made the front page of a Kampala paper. A local governor ordered sex trade workers to stay away from the Commonwealth hotels and, even though prostitution is illegal in Uganda, the government set up what were dubbed ‘love zones’ in another part of the city.
The paper quoted one “girl of the night” who complained that it was unfair. She told the paper that “these are the politicians we elected — and sometime serve at night” and they ought to have let them participate in the economic windfall of the Commonwealth.
One woman said she hoped to make enough money during the few days of the summit to be able to start up her own business.