Nyendo: A disorderly but rapidly developing town
Although there are many roads that connect to the town, many are in bad shape despite booming business. Photo by Christopher Kisekka
Nyendo is located approximately 130 kilometres southwest of Kampala. It is the second busiest town in Masaka municipality after Katwe and has a population of 43,883. It is a multilingual society recognising a number of tribes and ethnic groups. However, Luganda is the main mode of communication since Baganda are the majority.
Business
Nyendo is widely known for trapping and selling grasshoppers. In fact the town supplies Kampala during the grasshopper season. According to Meddi Ddungu, a resident, Nyendo started as a trading centre for ‘blacks’ (Ugandans) away from the Indian-dominated Masaka Town but until the 80’s it was not a big trading town.
“The few available shops sold items such as sugar, salt and bread,” Ddungu says adding: “As the population grew, many businesses started cropping up and continue to date.”
Infrastructure
The town’s face is changing since a number of modern structures are being put up. John Baptist Shopping Centre in the centre of the town, though not yet complete, is among the structures that have given the neighbourhood a new look.
The town’s skyline has been further beautified by Nyendo market, built under the Markets and Trade Improvement Project (MATIP). The market has lockups for general merchandise, agricultural warehouse and wholesale facilities. Musa Matovu, a resident, says the town has a number of unplanned houses and slum areas which resulted from land fragmentation in areas such as Market Triangle commonly known as Kakyafu (literary meaning a dirty area), Kitaka and Mabeera.
“The town could be better if places such as Kakyafu were nonexistent,” Matovu says.
Nyendo has a well-developed road network, although all the major roads including Nyendo- Kyakumpi, Nyendo- Kitovu, and Nyendo –Masaka are in a bad shape.
Health and education
The town has one public health centre- Nyendo Health Centre supported by numerous clinics and pharmacies for those who can afford private medical services.
There are many secondary and primary schools some of which are ranked highly at the national level.
Water and electricity
Most residents access piped water supplied by National Water and Sewerage Corporation as well as electricity which provides an opportunity for job creation.
Garbage problem
Although town authorities collect household garbage free of charge, lack of a proper disposing mechanism has led to garbage accumulation. According to Micheal Mulindwa Nakumusana, the division chairperson, the problem is worsened by littering especially by travellers.
Cost of land and rent
According to Victor Mukasa, a property master, a 50x100 ft plot of land costs between Shs15m on the outskirts of the town and Shs20m in the town centre. He says, however, that along some main streets and major roads, the same piece of land can be sold for up Shs40m.
Mukasa says renting a single room costs between Shs40,000 and Shs80,000 while a double room goes for between Shs90,000 and Shs150,000, with the location and quality of the room being the major deciding factors.
Security
Unlike in the past where Nyendo was known for harbouring people who engaged in dubious activities such as pick pocketing, robbery, burglary, prostitution and witchcraft, the town is more secure nowadays and travellers can move without fear of being robbed.
Boniface Wanyama, the officer in charge of Nyendo Police Station, says with an increasing population, crime is on the increase but police works around the clock to arrest the criminals. “Security in the area is a bit unstable but as police, we are trying to fight the criminals through intensive day and night police patrols and the use of crime preventers,” says Wanyama.
