Editors's Comment:Give divisions municipality status
Mar 14, 2007
IN an interview with Nasser Takuba, the LC3 Chairman of Kawempe Division, that is appearing today, Takuba said one of the reasons city divisions are lagging behind is because they do not have autonomy from the district.
IN an interview with Nasser Takuba, the LC3 Chairman of Kawempe Division, that is appearing today, Takuba said one of the reasons city divisions are lagging behind is because they do not have autonomy from the district. In their current status, all funding to the divisions is channelled through the district, in this case Kampala city.
This affects the division’s course of development and decision-making. According to Takuba, if divisions are to register development, they should be uplifted to either municipality or district status. Having districts within a city is not far-fetched. Modern cities around the world have districts, that are in most cases governed autonomously from the city authority. Each of the five divisions of Kampala can become a district without splitting from the city. For example, we can have Kawempe district of Kampala city.
Makindye, Rubaga, Kawempe and Nakawa have an average population of over 400,000 people. This is far beyond the population of more than half of each of the districts in Uganda. Since Kampala is no longer a district, there is no reason why it should continue having divisions rather than districts.
This affects the division’s course of development and decision-making. According to Takuba, if divisions are to register development, they should be uplifted to either municipality or district status. Having districts within a city is not far-fetched. Modern cities around the world have districts, that are in most cases governed autonomously from the city authority. Each of the five divisions of Kampala can become a district without splitting from the city. For example, we can have Kawempe district of Kampala city.
Makindye, Rubaga, Kawempe and Nakawa have an average population of over 400,000 people. This is far beyond the population of more than half of each of the districts in Uganda. Since Kampala is no longer a district, there is no reason why it should continue having divisions rather than districts.