Minister says no new creation of cities, districts until 2026

UGANDA | LOCAL GOVERNMENT | CITIES | DISTRICTS

Local government minister Raphael Magyezi has said there will be no creation of new administrative units until 2026.

"Advise your district and municipal councils not to include that on their order paper. That debate can start in 2025. "As of now, let us stick to what we have," he said.

Magyezi made the remarks on Thursday at the quarterly meeting of chief administrative officers (CAOs) and town clerks of cities and municipalities at the Hotel Africana in Kampala.

The minister urged the accounting officers to improve the quality of service delivery.

"There is a lingering public concern about the services offered by local governments." We need to step up the professionalism of our staff. Remember that service delivery is the core of the local government," he told the meeting.

The Uganda Vision 2040 and Uganda's National Development Plan III have recognized the importance of urbanization as a force for socio-economic transformation across the country, in particular, the need for regional and strategic cities beyond the capital to drive the urbanization agenda.

As part of this, the Government 2020 initiative created 15 cities in addition to Kampala, the capital city.

Effective July 1, 2020, 10 cities became operational, namely: Arua, Mbarara, Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal, Mbale, Masaka, Lira, Soroti, and Hoima.

These cities operate under the Local Government Act and the guidance of the National Urban Policy.