OP-ED: The Towers and Tankers We Fear

By Kennedy Muhindi

Today I stepped out to my balcony and counted nine telecom masts piercing the skyline, a cluster of steel spanning the city’s horizon. And yet my internet is barely loading. I couldn’t help wondering: if we have these many towers, why is service still patchy? More importantly, why are they being plunked next to homes with so little discussion? As these cell towers rise, so too does unease: some Ugandans whisper of cancer and infertility.

Likewise, on city streets dozens of fuel stations crowd our neighborhood, in Mbarara, anywhere on high street one can point to as many as 13 petrol stations in a distance of 3-5kms, raising the specter of a catastrophic fire.

I write this as a citizen who sees these hazards every day, not to scaremonger but to ask hard questions: Are we building infrastructure or brewing disaster? The data suggest it’s time to act.

Uganda’s mobile network has boomed: by March 2022 we had 30.6 million phone subscriptions and over 4,300 base-station sites nationwide yet many city residents still struggle to make calls or watch a video.

At the same time, nearly 40% of people living near a new mast told regulators they feared health effects like cancer. But let’s look at the evidence.

Uganda’s Atomic Energy Council has been unequivocal: no base station checked had “scaring high radiation levels,” and health fears around masts remain “phobia…not scientifically proved”. International experts agree.

The U.S. American Cancer Society finds “no strong evidence” that RF waves from towers cause any noticeable health problems. In short, global research shows base stations emit far too little radiation to harm us. Local tests back that up: a 2022 UCC survey found emission levels “way below” global safety limits at every Ugandan site tested.

Of course, cancer rates in Uganda are rising, roughly 34,000 new cases were estimated in 2020 but experts attribute this surge to known causes (like infections and smoking) and to improved screening. There’s no data linking tower proximity to those cases.

Meanwhile, many towers seem built with little planning: UCC reported 63% of neighbors were unaware of any consultation before a mast went up Companies often duplicate infrastructure rather than share it, driving up costs for users.

If thousands of base stations aren’t giving us reliable, fast service, what’s the point of choking our skyline? We must demand operators coordinate better and follow guidelines and insist on transparency, so we can see these sites meet health and safety standards.

Not far from those masts, another hazard has sprouted: filling stations. The Kampala Metro alone has seen a “notable upsurge” in fuel stations.

Official planning rules are clear: new fuel stations must sit at least 200 meters from schools, hospitals or homes and 3 km from the next station along a highway (2km on ordinary roads) Yet across Kampala, Mbarara and other towns, these distances are ignored. The result? Petrol pumps elbow each other for space. This isn’t just ugly; it’s dangerous.

Imagine a gasoline tanker overturning or a short circuit sparking a blaze amid that density. In 2019 a single fuel tanker crash in western Uganda ignited a fire that killed over 20 people and incinerated nearby shops and vehicles. Now picture that happening at a junction surrounded by four stations and three markets. Kampala’s aging fire brigade with only a handful of engines would struggle.

In April 2024, KCCA even donated two mid-sized fire trucks to the police, a stark signal that the city’s firefighting fleet is stretched thin. Fire stations are scarce outside Kampala, and ambulance or ICU resources are limited nationwide. (For context: Mulago Hospital, the capital’s main referral center, has ~1,200 – 1,500 beds with one casualty ward and Uganda as a whole has only a few dozen ICU beds.)

If a fuel station fire grows, our emergency response will not match the hazard. We have seen what neglect can do.

In 2017, the massive Kiteezi landfill piled high on a hill just outside Kampala collapsed after heavy rains, burying homes and killing at least 40 people It emerged that families and waste-pickers had built homes within the dump’s unstable slope.

President Museveni later asked pointedly, “Who allowed people to live near such a hazardous heap?” This disaster was
preventable: authorities had known for years the site was unsafe but failed to relocate communities or expand to a safer site.

Similarly, Kampala’s city drains overflow every rainy season, flooding slums and blocking roads again a sign of haphazard planning. These episodes should be lessons, not ignore-mes. The combination of lax enforcement and citizen helplessness has built a time bomb of towers and tanks across our cities.

We cannot afford complacency. Ugandans must demand better regulation and enforcement. For instance:

• Enforce safety zoning: No more haphazard siting.

Fuel stations violating the 200m or 3km rules should be shut and, if needed, demolished just as the National Physical Planning Board has urged.

Telecom companies must secure NEMA and UCC approvals before building towers, and communities should be consulted.

• Equip emergency services: If KCCA contribution was two trucks, we need more.

Fire brigades should get additional engines, water tenders and trained crews.

Hospitals must expand ICU and burn unit capacity to handle mass-casualties. (Remember, Mulago handles most of Greater Kampala’s emergencies) Ambulance services and the Red Cross deserve investment too, so a catastrophe isn’t a death sentence.

• Reform urban planning: We need modern zoning maps with enforced land-use laws.

Keep homes off floodplains and combustible sites (landfills, fuel farms, high-voltage lines).

Existing petrol stations and towers in violation of HSE guidelines should be audited. Plans to relocate hazards (like the dormant landfill project for Kiteezi) must finally proceed, not stall for years.

• Raise public awareness:

Citizens should be empowered to report illegal constructions. Media and civil society can spotlight problem areas for example, counting the number of petro stations along a highway or tagging suspect towers on social media.

We all have the right to know if our schools, churches or homes are within danger zones. We could also decide not to fuel our cars from stations that are close to schools, homes or each other.

The sky and streets belong to us too not only to developers and politicians. We have seen deadly reminders of what happens when profit or convenience trumps public safety. From my balcony I don’t just see masts and pumps; I see potential crises.

It’s time we insisted Uganda’s cities grow smartly, not recklessly. Readers and all Ugandans should join this call: demand that planners, regulators and elected leaders enforce the rules on the books, invest in emergency readiness, and above all protect our communities. We deserve safe, resilient cities not ticking time bombs.

Writer can be found on kennymuhindi@gmail.com