How Jinja rose from fishing village to city

Jinja City located in southeastern Uganda where the popular source of the Nile flows out of Lake Victoria, derives its origin from a fishing ground situated  1,140 metres above sea level.
Tracing the origin of the name Jinja which means “place of rocks or stones”, it was born out of the language of the two tribes of the Baganda and the Busoga that lived on either side of the River Nile in the area, narrates Prof Frank Nabwiso, former Kagoma Constituency MP and Vice-Chancellor of Busoga University.
Also referred to as Busoga’s moving dictionary,  Mr Nabwiso said the Baganda and Basoga, who were engaging in fishing, derived the name Jinja from a nearby rock at the landing site of Ripon Falls.
The Baganda refer to stones or rocks in their dialect as ‘Ejjinja’ , while  the Basoga call them  ‘Edinda’.
The colonial government used this reference when it established Jinja Town in 1901 as an administrative centre.
Mr Nabwiso said from a fishing community, Jinja later progressed into an industrial town with the construction of Owen Falls Dam in 1954 that housed Nalubaale Power station.
With the availability of the hydroelectric power station, beside the water bodies surrounding it, Jinja attracted many industrialists to utilise the proximity of power and water for their production.
The water bodies and industries also attracted many people for employment and resulted in the development of a town.
“Because of the water bodies surrounding Jinja, we had about two ships landing in Jinja at  Ripon Falls that were transporting items for use in industries and these created more employment opportunities for locals who were working as loaders and transporters,’’ said Mr Meddy Mbetyo, another resident of Jinja. 
He said industrialists played a critical role in constructing staff quarters for their workers and schools for children of managers and workers. 
Mr Mbetyo said such projects were an added advantage to Jinja’s growth.
Mr Mbetyo said the water bodies from Lake Victoria and River Nile that provided ground for the construction of Owen Falls Dam, which was opened by the late Queen Elizabeth 11 of England, put Jinja on the international map.
Queen Elizabeth was booked in a Jinja-based Hotel (Ripon Hotel) and this opened up many tourism opportunities.
Schools sprung up as a result of Queen Elizabeth’s visit. 
Such schools include; Main Street Primary School and Narambhai Road Primary School.
Main Street Primary School was constructed by contractors of the Owen Falls Dam as a way of giving back to the community through corporate social responsibility while Narambhai Primary School was constructed by Indians. 
 “Jinja had the headquarters for Busoga Kingdom, the first power generating station in Uganda, the regional headquarters for both Catholics and Protestants, the first airstrip outside Kampala, and planned roads and interconnections to and of the town, among others, that would automatically qualify it to become a city before any other town ,’’Mr Mbetyo said.
He, however, said politicking has crippled Jinja’s development.
“Here people vote non-residents into positions of leadership, who on getting money, invest it in their areas of origin,’’ Mr Mbetyo said.
Mr Francis Ssenabulya Walugembe, a former accountant at Nytil Industry, said he came to Jinja in the 1960s just after graduating from Manchester University. The town had many industries.
“We had British American Tobacco (BAT), Nytil which used to employ thousands of people from different countries, Nile Breweries, Mulco Textile factory, Grain Milling, Chillington Uganda Limited (manufacturer of hoes), and Tip Tip industry. These industries used to sustain the country’s revenue source since a lot of taxes were generated from them,’’ he said.
Some of the new industries that have  come up include Bidco, Nile Agro, Kengro, MMI, Sunbelt and Nile Aluminum.
Mr Ssenabulya said in the 1950 and 1960s, “Indians were working together with whites and they were very hospitable. They would give us their cars to take our children to school and our wives for shopping. 
According to Mr Ssenabulya, in the 1960s, they had banks like Baroda, Grindlays Bank, Barclays, and Cooperative Banks. 
But new banks have outnumbered the previous ones.
Mr Ssenabulya said Jinja town was largely occupied by Indian nationals. 
“The blacks were mostly housed in Walukuba Estate, which was the biggest estate in Uganda and it was a source of attraction,” Mr Ssenabulya said.
He added: “We had clubs like Blue Cut at Clive Road East, Mango Ba and Dingos. It was a town to rest, it was quiet, with no noise. Crested Crane Hotel was for whites, the streets were very clean. To date, it is still a resting area. People are still coming to Jinja to rest because there is Nile View Casino, D’fatansy Club and Club 49.’’
Communication has also improved in Jinja City, with a number of radio stations coming on board including NBS, Busoga One, Apex, Smart, Kiira, Victoria, City FM, Operation Phillip and BABA FM among others.
But the 62 year old Akamada Tenywa, a businessman in Jinja since 1975, said Agriculture was key in Jinja’s development.
Locals engaged in the growing of cash crops like coffee, cotton and ground nuts, which they brought to Jinja for sale.
With the proceeds from these cash crops, locals could provide for their basic needs and also reinvest in real estate.
“I remember a businessman who was selling groundnuts on Lubas Road who got a lot of money and constructed some of the buildings we are having here in Jinja,’’ he said.
Mr Tenywa said the advantage they had in doing business during the initial stages of Jinja Town’s growth was that the taxes were low.
He said some people even erected storeyed buildings like Madhvani (built 1919), Bellevue and Biashara Supermarket (the first one in Jinja), among others, due to low taxes.
Changes
A lot has changed today. The area has many shops, supermarkets and shopping malls.
79-year-old, Mr Joel Kafuko, the mayor of Jinja Municipality between 1992 and 1997, said there are many influential people who benefited from the local politics of the current city.
“ High profile persons like the current Inspector  General of Government [IGG] Beti Kamya, Former IGG Faith Mwondha,  Justice Engonda [Justice Frederick Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende of the Court of Appeal), former minister Daudi Migereko,  among others,  served  as councillors in Jinja Municipality,’’ he said.
Mr Kafuko said the above leaders and others were focused and prepared Jinja to for city status.
The former Kagoma County MP, Prof Frank Nabwiso, said Jinja Town started with two secondary schools that were providing quality education.
“The municipality that became a city started with schools like Jinja College and Jinja SS  where prominent persons like Second deputy Prime Minister Gen (Rtd) Moses Ali, Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze and [Mr] Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, attained their education,’’ he said.
Prof Nabwiso, however, said the standard of education in the schools has declined.
However, Jinja has been able to build institutions of higher learning including branches of YMCA Comprehensive Institute, Makerere University, and Kampala University.
The NRM chairperson of Jinja City, Mr Dan Musinguzi, attributes Jinja’s development to President Museveni’s good governance.
Mr Musinguzi  lauded Busoga leaders from the ruling NRM party  for  lobbying the government to make Jinja  a city.
“It was the former Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga, who announced on the floor of Parliament that there will be no city to be granted in Uganda if Jinja misses on the list and [Ms] Kadaga is a member of the NRM central executive committee,’’ he said.
Mr Musinguzi said even President Museveni, who is the chairperson of NRM party,  approved the parliamentary resolution that granted Jinja a city status.
The Forum for Democratic Change’s Vice President for Eastern Uganda, Ms Salaam Musumba, who entered Jinja in 1972 where she had lunch as she was heading to Namagunga Primary School, cited Jinja National Agricultural showground as one of the most attractive places by that time. The showground was opened by then-President Idi Amin in 1976.
“Jinja was a very beautiful town, well organised, in 1972 when Indians were chased, my father was given a shop on Lubas Road. It had places like the showground, spillover at the bridge, the old bridge was also beautiful like the current one. The city has been able to maintain the Commonwealth cemetery,’’ she said.
Ms Musumba, however, said the city needs enough funding, and the “leaders should work for the city as if they are working for their families because Jinja is still struggling to get back on her feet’’.
However, the Jinja City Spokesperson, Mr Rajab Kito, said they have embarked on road construction and the demolition of old structures to give the city a facelift.
“We have been having issues with funds but with the support of the Uganda Support for Municipal Infrastructure  Development, we are slowly starting to work on the bad roads,’’ he said.
Jinja became a city on July 1, 2020.
Compiled by  Tausi Nakato, Abubaker Kirunda & Denis Edema