Set conditions for district status

One Sunday when I was returning from Mbarara, an elderly man stopped me in Rwentuuha town. I don’t usually carry people due to personal reasons. But as he belted himself up in the front passenger seat of my car, he was quick to tell me that he was going to visit a relative in hospital in Ishaka.

“Are you excited about the new districts”, I asked. “Oh we are very grateful to the NRM government. In addition to the original Bushenyi, we have Sheema, Mitooma, and Rubirizi!” he replied. He was kind enough to show me boundaries of some of the districts on our journey.

Towards the end of our conversation, I asked him why some of their leaders were opposed to new districts. “They urged we didn’t have enough resources,” he answered. I reflected on this and other conversations I have had with the proponents of new districts, most recently those who want to split up Kasese. The arguments that new districts are supposed to ‘bring services close to the people’ hoodwink local people. What leaders don’t tell the masses is that this ‘service delivery’ comes at an extra cost.

A new district comes with a huge increase in administrative costs.
Suddenly, you have new MPs, need new administration centres, the chairman wants a new car and a host of other things. This is okay if the new district has the capacity to generate the required revenue to meet these costs. When this is not possible, these extra costs hit the local government ministry’s budget.

The ministry seeks more funds in the national budget, the central government to URA, donors and grants, URA to taxpayers and so on. ‘A new district’ then triggers a chain of ‘money hunting’ activities that may in the end ‘reduce even the available services’. This may be unknown to the ordinary Ugandans, but economists and government strategists know it.

These problems can be nipped in the bud if only the proponents conducted a thorough ‘economic’, ‘political’ and even ‘demographic’ appraisal on each county seeking district status backed up numbers and proven track records. Does it have the resources? How much revenue can they generate on their own? Do the constituents cut across different social, tribal and economic groupings? Does it have a hospital? Why must a district status be granted? What can happen if it’s not granted?

Answers to these and more questions can then be submitted to the local government minister in form of a proposal. Of course the ministry will have set minimum requirements against which these proposals can be vetted and defended in cabinet and parliament. If the proposal meets the requirements, then grant district status. If not, tough luck.

A county should earn the district status and not just demand for it. This mentality of ‘so and so demanded and got, so we should also get’ is what must be discouraged. Or else we will end up with so many ‘political’ districts that guarantee votes but cannot deliver their intended objectives and are an economic burden.

In the meantime, the government should halt this craze, and do a thorough review on all districts that have been created in the recent past. Some of which am sure have done well.

Topher Atuhurira,
Hima Cement manager
atuhurira@engineer.com