The new population of Kampala is credible, Ssebaana!
Oct 22, 2002
SIR— I wish to comment on the story “Sebaana wants fresh census†that appeared in The New Vision recently.
SIR— I wish to comment on the story “Sebaana wants fresh census†that appeared in The New Vision recently.
I know that Ssebaana Kizito, the Kampala mayor, cares a lot about the welfare of the Kampala people. As a serious planner, he would like to base his planning on accurate data and information. However, I doubt his assertion as reported in the story that “our estimate based on real facts indicate that Kampala has a population of not less than 2 million people...â€
The little I know about counting people is that a population census is the most scientific method one can use to estimate the number of people in a given area.
Kampala’s population was close to 760,000 in 1991 and we have been using this figure to project the population of Kampala over the years. To me, the results of the population census are highly consistent with these projections. What should be of great concern to the mayor now is not the figure of 1.2million people because these are the people who stayed in Kampala during the census night. In the case of Kampala, being a capital city, you cannot entirely use this figure for planning purposes. The onus is now on Kampala City Council planners is to use the 1.2million base to estimate on average the number of people who stay in Kampala during day. In fact this should be the figure on which the Government should base its determination of conditional grants to Kampala. And as I have always urged, the authorities at City Hall should base their analysis and projections on this fact of “the pendulum population†to push for another grant from the central government to compensate for this sudden increase in the population during day, which population may not be paying local taxes in Kampala. But of course it affects service delivery greatly.
My casual estimation would put Kampala’s population during day at an average of 2.3 million people. Instead of asking for a fresh census, the mayor should ask the Government for more grants.
The authorities at City Hall should also ask the Government to assist them to update their property register, graduated tax register and enumeration of businesses in Kampala.
This is where the problem of revenue collection in Kampala lies. For example, in 2001, the property register of Kampala had less than 5,000 properties! And Rakai, a district three times smaller than Kampala (in terms of population size) has close to 70,000 graduated tax payers compared to Kampala’s 130,000!
Finally, I would like to thank the mayor for the good work he is doing for the city. I wish to tell him that the Government cares for Kampala as much as he does. There is no reason to imagine that the same government could deliberately underestimate the population of Kampala just to make fail to do his work properly.
Movement Chairman, Kampala
Former Chairman of Finance, Economic Planning and Administration Committee,
Kampala City Council
I know that Ssebaana Kizito, the Kampala mayor, cares a lot about the welfare of the Kampala people. As a serious planner, he would like to base his planning on accurate data and information. However, I doubt his assertion as reported in the story that “our estimate based on real facts indicate that Kampala has a population of not less than 2 million people...â€
The little I know about counting people is that a population census is the most scientific method one can use to estimate the number of people in a given area.
Kampala’s population was close to 760,000 in 1991 and we have been using this figure to project the population of Kampala over the years. To me, the results of the population census are highly consistent with these projections. What should be of great concern to the mayor now is not the figure of 1.2million people because these are the people who stayed in Kampala during the census night. In the case of Kampala, being a capital city, you cannot entirely use this figure for planning purposes. The onus is now on Kampala City Council planners is to use the 1.2million base to estimate on average the number of people who stay in Kampala during day. In fact this should be the figure on which the Government should base its determination of conditional grants to Kampala. And as I have always urged, the authorities at City Hall should base their analysis and projections on this fact of “the pendulum population†to push for another grant from the central government to compensate for this sudden increase in the population during day, which population may not be paying local taxes in Kampala. But of course it affects service delivery greatly.
My casual estimation would put Kampala’s population during day at an average of 2.3 million people. Instead of asking for a fresh census, the mayor should ask the Government for more grants.
The authorities at City Hall should also ask the Government to assist them to update their property register, graduated tax register and enumeration of businesses in Kampala.
This is where the problem of revenue collection in Kampala lies. For example, in 2001, the property register of Kampala had less than 5,000 properties! And Rakai, a district three times smaller than Kampala (in terms of population size) has close to 70,000 graduated tax payers compared to Kampala’s 130,000!
Finally, I would like to thank the mayor for the good work he is doing for the city. I wish to tell him that the Government cares for Kampala as much as he does. There is no reason to imagine that the same government could deliberately underestimate the population of Kampala just to make fail to do his work properly.
Former Chairman of Finance, Economic Planning and Administration Committee,
Kampala City Council