SPLIT FINALLY:KAJARA, RUSHENYI AND NTUNGAMO DISTRICTS APPROVED BY DISTRICT COUNCIL

By Kweronda Ambrose
in Ntungamo—–

The Ntungamo district council made a significant decision to proceed with the long-debated plan of dividing the district into three separate entities. The council believed that this division was essential to enhance service delivery and address various challenges faced by the residents of the largest district in South Western Uganda.

During the council meeting, which was presided over by the district speaker, Nicholas Twikirize, several pressing issues were brought to the forefront. These included problems with road infrastructure, the quota system for government-sponsored university programs, classroom allocation within the education sector, wage bill concerns, and many other challenges that were affecting the community. It was the consensus of the council that these issues could be better managed if the district were to be divided.

The councilors unanimously decided to split the district into three distinct regions: Ntungamo, Rushenyi, and Kajara. This resolution marked a renewed effort to implement a plan that had initially been proposed in 2013. However, previous attempts to enact this division had been thwarted by President Museveni, who had expressed his reluctance to see Ntungamo, the district of his birth, subdivided into smaller administrative units.

John Kabeho, a council member representing Rubaare sub-county, pointed out that the President’s failure to fulfill promises, such as providing additional road equipment and increasing university quota system allocations, had left the people of Ntungamo with inadequate services. In light of this, the councilors believed that maintaining a larger Ntungamo district was futile and that division was the way forward.

The council entrusted the district executive, under the leadership of the district chairperson, Samuel Mucunguzi Rwakigoba Salongo, with the responsibility of devising a clear roadmap for the division of the district before the 2026 elections.

Another pressing issue that was discussed during the council meeting was the non-remittance of locally collected revenue by sub-counties. Councilors raised concerns about sub-county chiefs failing to remit these funds to the district, which impacted the district’s financial stability.

Additionally, the council made several recommendations, including the designation of Ankole Medical Centre in Kashanda Rubaare sub-county for government reporting, allocating land for Ntungamo College of Nursing and Midwifery, approving an ex-gratia supplementary payment of Shs 404.6 million for local leaders, and passing a supplementary budget of 2.336 billion Shillings for the production department, among other important matters.