Involve locals in new city plans
Jan 09, 2008
IT is no longer news that the Government will soon take over the running of Kampala city by appointing an executive director. The plans also include extending the city’s boundaries to parts of Wakiso district, and in return, give part of Rubaga division to Wakiso.
EDITOR’S COMMENT
IT is no longer news that the Government will soon take over the running of Kampala city by appointing an executive director. The plans also include extending the city’s boundaries to parts of Wakiso district, and in return, give part of Rubaga division to Wakiso.
The city will also receive more funding from the central government. These are fundamentally good plans. However, the problem is that most of the stakeholders, especially local leaders, are not fully involved in designing these proposals.
The Government may argue that it has powers to take over Kampala, but the fact that the plans affect even Wakiso district warranted more involvement of leaders of Wakiso. Local leaders do not own the plan. Many of them even lack the vital information contained in the proposals.
As a result, they do not even know what their status will be in the new city set up. Involving local leaders in the initial stages of creating the new city plan is very important. It will save the central government the burden of explaining the plans to the affected population in isolation, since this explanation could easily been done by local leaders.
IT is no longer news that the Government will soon take over the running of Kampala city by appointing an executive director. The plans also include extending the city’s boundaries to parts of Wakiso district, and in return, give part of Rubaga division to Wakiso.
The city will also receive more funding from the central government. These are fundamentally good plans. However, the problem is that most of the stakeholders, especially local leaders, are not fully involved in designing these proposals.
The Government may argue that it has powers to take over Kampala, but the fact that the plans affect even Wakiso district warranted more involvement of leaders of Wakiso. Local leaders do not own the plan. Many of them even lack the vital information contained in the proposals.
As a result, they do not even know what their status will be in the new city set up. Involving local leaders in the initial stages of creating the new city plan is very important. It will save the central government the burden of explaining the plans to the affected population in isolation, since this explanation could easily been done by local leaders.