KCCA drafts plan to fight city poverty
Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA. PHOTO / FILE
What you need to know:
- Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA, told this publication at the weekend that housing, trading spaces, lighting, water, and security are some of the services that the urban poor need to live a decent life.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has drafted a plan that will help the government offer different services needed by about 372,000 poverty stricken households in the city.
Ms Dorothy Kisaka, the executive director of KCCA, told this publication at the weekend that housing, trading spaces, lighting, water, and security are some of the services that the urban poor need to live a decent life.
“As a city, we are cognisant of the plight of the urban poor who flock into the city for better opportunities,” Ms Kisaka said.
“We need to protect children from being trafficked. The current inflow of children from upcountry districts into Kampala needs a multipronged approach by working with key agencies and other stakeholders,” she added.
The Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimates that there are about 372,000 households in the city and more than a third of those are the urban poor.
Ms Kisaka said more data needs to be collected for proper planning.
“These are conservative estimates and specific measures are needed, especially as we move towards the Parish Development Model (PDM). A parish-based information management system is one of the key outputs of PDM, so that information is collected from a specific geographical area to inform planning,” she said.
Benchmarking
Ms Kisaka was among other stakeholders last week that participated in a consultative meeting organised by Haggai International Board of Trustees in Atlanta Georgia, where they deliberated on ending Gospel Poverty.
While opening the mid-term review workshop for the World Bank funded Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Programme last Friday, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Judith Nabakooba, said slums have developed because low income earners have migrated to cities in search of jobs.
Ms Nabakooba, however, said the mushrooming slums in cities will be upgraded into modern urban settlements for low income earners.
The director of housing in the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr Dave Khayangayanga, noted that Uganda’s open door policy for refugees has seen then contribute to rapid urbanisation.
Statistics
In Kampala alone, more than 60 percent of its residents live in informal settlements, majority being poor parents and youth who work in informal employment, according to the UN Habitant 2006 Report. These slum settlements are characterised by extreme poverty, poor housing, lack of access to clean and safe water, and high crime rates, among others.
