Gulu renews demand for city status

Gulu Municipality leaders have re-energised their demand for city status arguing that they now have all the minimum requirements.
This comes at the backdrop of Lands Minister Betty Amongi’s lamentations last week that Gulu’s agitation for a city status is far from reality.

The minister, among others, cites the presence of dilapidated buildings that were established in the pre and post-colonial period and poor drainage systems that had put an ugly face to these town. She says these are major hindrances for granting the district a city status.
The municipality is among four other regional municipalities that were earmarked by government for city status two years ago.

Officials in the municipality were conditioned by government to meet, among others, a population of 300,000 people, a master plan, administrative units and modern roads before city status can be granted.
However, Gulu District chairman Matin Ojara Mapenduzi says the municipality has already fulfilled all the requirements for city status.
He cites the presence of various hotel facilities, a functional airfield, large labour force and extended administrative boundaries as some of the benchmarks that Gulu Municipality has met already.

“Once granted city status, it will facilitate Gulu’s healing process from the effects of the two-decade conflict in the town, provide many jobs and promote economic development,” Mr Mapenduzi says.
Gulu town currently has a population of 153,000 but after amalgamating parts of Patiko, Bungatira, Unyama and Koch-ongako sub-counties to form part of the municipality, its population increased to more than 290, 000 people.
Mr Francis Barabanawe, the municipal town clerk, says the municipality, together with government, was working on addressing the energy demands of the municipality by extending electricity transmission lines and upgrading the supply strength.

“We want to upgrade the power strength and supply from 33 kilowatts to an industrial capacity of 132 kilowatts. We are also setting up a modern abattoir to slaughter 80 livestock every day,” Mr Barabanawe explains.
He adds that construction works of the 17 major roads within the municipality have been completed under Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructural Development [USMID], beautified and equipped with solar-powered streetlights.

Gulu Municipality mayor Mr George Labeja notes that the proposed granting of city status to Gulu has been long overdue.
“We told the prime minister recently that we have everything in place to have a city. We have done all it takes to bring the town into modern shape, good housing, modern medical facilities, universities and many other things,” Mr Labeja says.

Gulu now has three universities, 21 institutions of higher learning, two hospitals at the referral level, good roads and a proper waste management plan (good sanitation measure), according to Mr Labeja.
Ms Amongi says: “Very soon, I will be writing to all the municipalities in the country that there are certain kinds of structures, especially old and dilapidated ones that must be razed from within towns.”
“I want to request the physical planners, mayors and town clerks to start giving conditions to all those landlords, if they are incapable of developing those plots and buildings, let them look for partners who can build beautiful and befitting structures,” she noted.

While meeting Japanese officials in Gulu town in July, the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, told Gulu district leaders that there was no need to push and remind government over the city status because a decision had already been taken to elevate Gulu Municipality into a city.
Despite its dream of attaining a city status by 2018/2019, there is more work to be done.

Gulu is currently fighting to beautify its streets as it fights for space in town.
Available records indicate that Gulu town generates at least 75 tonnes of waste per day but it has only been able to collect and dispose off 50 tonnes while the rest ends up on the road sides, drainage channels and open spaces in the town.

Mr Tom Emmanuel Ojuka, the municipal infrastructure development specialist at the USMID directorate, says delay in granting city status to Gulu is because they have not been rightly implemented government strategies towards infrastructural development.
“You cannot have it (a city) by mouth unless you work for it. Make sure every corner of the town has street lights, smart walkways, good drainage systems, good housing and proper waste management, which is not the case currently,” Mr Ojuka says.

The National Development Plan II, the second of the six five-year old plans that aims at achieving Vision 2040, provides for the creation of four cities which were proposed initially as Gulu, Mbale, Arua and Mbarara towns.
Government intends to upgrade the regional towns into cities so as to create jobs, get more funds from the Central government that would help in construction of city roads, garbage collection, building primary schools and health centres.

The World Bank is currently undertaking a procurement process to construct a major water project from River Nile at Karuma to supply the town.
That, according to its leaders, will solve water crisis that disturbs the town, especially during dry spells.
It is also one of the 14 municipalities (14 recipients) benefitting from the infrastructure development grant under the World Bank funded USMID project.
Through USMID project, the town has been dressed up in a new look, getting rid of gaping potholes from the streets, and dark spots in the town after solar-powered street lights were installed all over the new roads.

Requirements

The Local Government Act under Chapter 243 requires that a municipality seeking to gain a city status must have a population of 500,000 inhabitants although government recently revised it to 300,000 since it is hard for most towns to reach a population of 500,000 people currently.

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