Know Your Hood: Bombo
The mosque in Bombo, one of Uganda's oldest. Internet Photo.
What you need to know:
Dusty and quiet Bombo is synonymous with Uganda’s Nubians. Ugandan Nubians are descendants of Sudanese military recruits who entered Uganda in the late nineteenth century as part of the British colonial army.
Located on the Kampala- Luweero highway, Bombo town is home to one of Uganda’s oldest military garrisons and also the home of the Nubian tribe in Uganda.
Origins
The town has its origins in colonialism as it was home to the Nubian soldiers who were brought in by the British protectorate government. The soldiers were settled at bombo military garrison and when the barracks became too small to accommodate the soldiers and their families, the British government negotiated with Stanlus Mugwanya who owned the land around the garrison allowing the Nubian soldiers and their wives to occupy the land around the barracks and from this grew what we now know as Bombo military barracks.
Unique features
One of the unique features in Bombo is the Nubian culture, the Nubian way of living and their devotion to the Islamic way of living, though it would not be unheard of to find an underage girl being married off Bombo is also home to one of the oldest, military barracks so those who seek history of the British colonial times can find a lot of regalia from the old days including photos of the Sudanese soldiers.
What is unique about bombo may be more about the people who occupy the town, and their culture.
Amenities
Bombo town council has a very popular concentration of schools, from Primary to Secondary including Ndejje Secondary School which is one of the most popular schools in the country. It is also 15, minutes away from Ndejje University.
The town also has a military hospital, and a health Centre IV that was built by the World Islamic Call Society an organisation that seeks to boost the role of women in society. Being a Muslim majority town. Bombo does not have much of a night life and has one bar, which is also the only guest house. It also boosts of a bustling market that is located right in the middle of the town.
Security
Bombo rarely records thefts, and the only insecurity is the soldiers who go on shooting rampages.
Planning to Rent or Buy
If you are planning to rent a house in Bombo, you would have to part with between Shs20,000 to Shs50,000 for a single simple basic room, while you would pay Shs70,000 to Shs100,000 to rent a shop in the town. While for those looking for land, a broker who identified himself as Isma says you can get a 50 by 100 plot of land at less than Shs5m.
While farm land is cheaper, it is rare to find because most of the people who live in Bombo are not willing to sell their land. An acre of farm land would cost you just a Shs1m without a land title.
However the real estate development companies are also moving into the area so hope for planned homes is starting to appear. The town also has electricity and piped running water though not everyone can afford it
Getting there.
Getting to Bombo town from Kampala is not so hard because it is on the main road, it would cost you Shs4,000 by taxi to get there, and Shs3,500 to come back .
