District debate is important

What the President and other politicians, especially from the ruling National Resistance Movement, need to understand as the motion is tabled today is, creating more districts must go beyond the politics.

President Museveni, it is reported, met MPs on the Public Service and Local Government Committee last Wednesday and one of the issues that emerged was the status of new districts, which Cabinet had passed last year.

The President directed the Local Government Minister, Mr Adolf Mwesige, to table a motion in Parliament today to recall the earlier proposed 25 new districts. The first submission had been done by the very minister in July last year.

What is interesting here is that it seems the President has finally heeded to the call by civil society and other interest groups to cut on what they call public wastage. He notes that now is the time to review the districts proposal and assess their viability.

Civil Society Organisations have always argued that creation of new administrative units is a strain on the economy.

They say the creation of many districts, which now stand at 111, excluding Kampala, is not viable and therefore a review needs to be done.

It is said for any new district to take off, about Shs60 billion needs to be available to mainly foot the bills of technocrats, district chairpersons, and other members of statutory committees like the service commissions and land boards. Less of that money is used for service delivery, especially improving infrastructure.

Indeed, some studies have shown that creating more districts does not necessarily increase or improve service delivery.

MPs last year stopped the operationalisation of the districts because there was no government policy on their management and creation.
Article 179 of the Constitution empowers Parliament to alter boundaries of districts and the creation of more districts. According to the Constitution, any measure for the alteration of or the creation of districts shall be based on the necessity for effective administration and need to bring services closer to the people.

What the President and other politicians, especially from the ruling National Resistance Movement, need to understand as the motion is tabled today is, creating more districts must go beyond the politics.
New districts must be created after a thorough needs assessment is done. Many times, districts are a bait politicians use to garner support in the run up to elections.