Know your hood : Kirombe,Where crime is checked through zonal meetings
Kirombe used to be a bush with no roads. But currently, it is a steadly developing with health and educational facilities plus a police station.
I had never been to Kirombe and the first time I went there was on an assignment. It’s on that same day that fate decided to bring my way what I prefer to call an embarrassing accident. I was walking on an old wooden bridge and somehow, I missed a step and slipped. I almost ended up in a trench filled with sewage. But anyway, it was not that bad because I managed to do my assignment.
Location
According to Geoffrey Nsamba, a taxi driver and a resident of the area, Kirombe is about five kilometres from Kampala.
Kirombe is located in Makindye Division and it is neighboured by villages like Nsambya to the south, Kansanga into the east, Makindye to the west and Konge to the north.
History
Eighty-year-old Expedito Lubwama Katiko says the place was previously known as Lukuri but it got its current name in the late 1980s due to the brick making activity that took place in the past.
Lubwama says there was a man called Abdullah who used to make bricks in the area. People would call him Abdullah “owe Kirombe kyamatafaali” loosely translated as Abdullah who resides at the brick laying site thus the name Kirombe emerged. According to Lubwama, Kirombe is on Buganda land and thus residents do not have land titles.
Security
Patrick Okello, a police officer at Mponye Police Post, says the place is secure and security has been maintained through organising zonal meetings to sensitise the community. He notes: “We educate residents about offences like assault, theft, robbery and how to solve disputes between tenants and landlords because they are the most cases we register here. We also conduct night foot patrols to arrest criminals.”
Facilities
The area also has health facilities and Hope Clinic is one of the private medical facilities in the area though the place is not far from Nsambya hospital. Kirombe is also home to several schools like Nanganda Primary School, Stena Secondary School and Kampala International University, which is about two kilometres from Kirombe trading centre. St. Jude Catholic Church and St. Stephen Church of Uganda are some of the worship centres found in the area.
Development
Luzinda who has lived in the area for the past 30 years reminisces: “I came here in the 1980s when this place was a bush with ponds and wattle houses. Even vehicles would stop at Nsambya Stage because of the poor road that was like a path in a forest, covered with potholes, muddy and full of stones.” “But this place has greatly changed. It has beautiful houses, medical facilities and schools.”
land and housing
Housing. Renting a single room without power is Shs70,000, while one with power is between Shs80,000 and shs100,000. The rent for a double room house ranges from Shs150,000 to Shs300,000 and Shs350,000 for a two bedroom self-contained house.
Buying a two-bedroomed house with a sitting room, one pays between Shs80m and Shs100m.
Land. The cost of a 50ft by 100ft piece of land costs between Shs90m and Shs100m but bargaining power sometimes defines the price. A 100ft by 100ft piece of land goes for up to Shs200m.
