“The potholes are a metaphor for Uganda and for the state of Kampala,” Clarke told AFP. “If we can demonstrate that we can overcome the potholes and keep our streets clean then we can show that things can change.”

Clarke, a physician by training, arrived in Uganda in 1987 as part of an Anglican mission, and went on to establish one of Kampala’s top hospitals. He said he spent $50,000 on his campaign, and wanted to try his hand at local politics because it’s the area where the most visible, immediate difference to the lives of people can be made; and because he was tired of writing about the problems in his column in Uganda’s New Vision without being able to see any visible improvements. But Clarke’s found unravelling Kampala’s tangled bureacracy more difficult than he expected. “This now is tough, but every little bit done is at least something that wasn’t done before,” he said.

Despite initial concerns that people would not welcome an  “mzungu” (white person) into the political arena, the size of his victory over the incumbent shows that his colour is not a bar to political participation. Some say his colour helped, playing to perceptions that white politicians are less corrupt. But not everyone was happy – least of all his opponents in the elections, who labelled him with the pejorative “ghost”.

Ghost or not, someone has to fix Kampala’s potholes, and Ian Clarke might just be the man for the job. DM

Read more:

• Uganda’s first white politician speaks out on Uganda’s New Vision;
• Of Irish Soil and Ugandan Politics on The New York Times;
• Ian Clarke’s official blog.

Photo: Dr Ian Clarke with Rose Nanyonga, his adopted daughter New Vision.