Mbarara quest for city status gets boost
High Street in Mbarara Town. PHOTO BY ALFRED TUMUSHABE
MBARARA- For the last seven years, Mbarara town has seen a surge in construction of commercial and residential buildings and the trend continues, reinforcing the aspiration for city status being championed by local leaders.
Ten shopping malls have been established, according to the town clerk, Mr Edward Lwanga.
He says applications to erect more commercial buildings are overwhelming.
“Mbarara is developing very fast. People are putting up very big structures, especially commercial structures. As we talk now, the malls are 10. That shows that the business is booming,” says Mr Lwanga.
He identifies the major malls in the town as Amazon, Easy View, London Arcade, City Light, Adit, Mbarara City Mall, Kirimi, GBK, La Plaza and De Posh.
The business planning committee of the municipal council which approves development plans reviews more than 50 new building plans every month.
“Out of these plans, half of them are directly commercial shops, others are residential but of a commercial nature, like apartments,” says Mr Lwanga.
Mbarara Municipality has a night population of about 200,000 people and covers 496 square kilometres.
Divisions
There are six divisions: Kakiika, Nyakayojo, Biharwe, Kamukuzi, Kakooba and Nyamitanga.
The council currently has a budget of Shs48b up from Shs41b in the previous financial year.
Last year, local revenue was Shs5.5b and the collections are projected to rise to Shs6b this financial year.
The rest of the revenue comes from central government (major source), and donors.
Trading licences from businesses in the commercial buildings brought in Shs527m last financial year.
Some commercial buildings give the municipal council more than Shs12m each in business license fees at rates determined by the ministry of Trade and Industry. The businesses in these buildings are mainly supermarkets, salons, banks, boutiques, restaurants, pharmacies and offices.
Slightly more than half of the council budget is spent on recurrent expenditure; paying salaries for staff including teachers, health workers and allowances for politicians.
The rest of the money is spent on development projects such as erecting street lights and maintaining roads, among others.
“Last financial year we collected Shs5.5b, this financial we will collect about Shs6b and this is because we revalued our properties where we expect increment. We have new sources of income like LED street adverts,” says Mr Lwanga.
Mbarara Town is home to industries such as Pearl Dairies, GBK, Ntake bakery and Kidawalime bakery.
Institutions of learning
The town boasts of institutions of learning such as Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Bishop Stuart University and University of Saint Joseph.
There are also several hotels in the town such as Lake View Resort and Hotel Triangle.
The completion of the four-storeyed Shs21b Mbarara Central Market on Mbaguta Street next year will also enhance the town’s image.
However, the council leaders will have to work hard to transform three rural divisions of Kakiika, Nyakayojo and Biharwe to be able to catch up with Kakoba, Nyamitanga and Kamukuzi divisions.
The former three were incorporated into the municipality in 2015 to boost the population, a vital criterion for turning a town into a city.
The area MP Michael Tusiime cautions that meaningful city development should follow urban planning procedures.
“There is prospect that the future is going to be better. People have confidence in the political and economic environment. But we need to establish buildings following a plan. If we don’t, then we may incur heavy costs of demolishing these buildings in the future in. Government wants to have regional cities; we need to do our part as stakeholders so that we are able to live up to the standards once the city has been approved,” says Mr Tusiime.
