Masaka’s journey from rural town to key commercial hub

Some of the new buildings that are redefining the skyline of Masaka City. The city has witnessed an increase in investments.  PHOTO / RICHARD KYANJO 

What you need to know:

  • Masaka became a township in 1953, a town council in 1958 and was later elevated to a municipality in 1968. It has now progressed to a city.

Masaka, famously referred to as Buganda’s capital city by mostly kingdom loyalists, is one of the oldest urban units in Uganda that was constructed by colonialists decades ago.

It is also one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

Masaka became a township in 1953, a town council in 1958 and was later elevated to a municipality in 1968. It has now progressed to a city.

Located on the busy Mombasa-Kampala-Mbarara-Kigali highway, Masaka enjoyed some steady growth in the 1960s and early 1970s.  But it suffered a setback in 1979 when most of its infrastructure, mainly buildings, were bombed during the liberation war that led to the collapse  of President Idi Amin’s regime.

This partly affected the area’s economy.

But in the last four decades, some native developers have struggled to bring back Masaka to its feet and visible advancement has been achieved in the last 10 years where a big number of high rise buildings have sprung up in the area.

“Masaka could have registered more progress  if it’s prominent business people invested back home. Majority have migrated to Kampala City where they have established most of their investments,” says Mr Sulaiman Ssewajje, a trader in Masaka City.

This is evidenced through a sample of traders originating from Masaka who have set up huge investments in Kampala and its suburbs.

“The good news is that they are slowly returning, having realised business potential this side and the city is booming,” Mr Ssewajje adds.

Unlike in the past where traders in neigbouring districts frequented Kampala for wholesale shopping, lately, wholesale traders supply directly to Masaka City traders, hence subsidised transport costs.

This has partly contributed to the socioeconomic transformation of the area .

“We have wholesale stores and show rooms for every item needed. Retailers only go to Kampala to collect a few items we don’t have here. We also set up car bonds, which used to be a preserve of mostly Kampala traders. Today, someone walks into a car showroom or yard, pays for a vehicle and they drive away with it,” Mr  Ssewajje observes.

There is also a population boom since many people are migrating to the city to do business.

Majority of these were operating from Kampala, but have been pushed away by exorbitant rent fees amid the raging Covid-19 pandemic.

Masaka Town four decades ago

Mr William Dagu, 66, who took part in the 1979 war that toppled Amin, observes that Masaka has transformed both socially and economically.

The former soldier commonly known as Kamanyola, a name derived from  his once famous disco business in Masaka in the early 1980s, reminisces: “I was a disco deejay  then. My mobile disco was the first and  only one known in the area and people used to hire me at all functions, but today there are many discos and event organisers  from which one can make a choice,” he says.

He observes that a few car showrooms existed during the 1970s.

  “What was unique back then  is that the few [car showrooms]that existed were selling brand new cars. Today, they are selling second hand vehicles  and I think it is because people are poor and that is what they can afford,” Ms Kamanyola reminisces

“There were a handful of shops stocked with essential commodities. Bars were operating for a few hours and would close at midnight, but today revellers enjoy themselves throughout the night,” he adds.

Mr Joseph Kalungi, a city resident and former chairperson of Masaka District, acknowledges that Masaka has registered a lot of progress but believes  that the  current city leadership can do  more  to attract both local and foreign investors.

“Masaka City cannot develop to the required standards when residents are not earning. City leaders need to design a plan that can help attract investors to create more jobs for our people,” he advises. As Masaka City expands from its current land area of 47 square kilometres to 364 square kilometres, Mr Peter Ssenkungu, the chairperson of National Resistance Movement (NRM) in Masaka District, says the authorities must ensure the city is well-planned to avoid slums like it is the case with Kampala.

“Our leaders should be strict on following the city structural plan to avoid congestion and unplanned structures,” Mr Ssenkungu says

He says Masaka could have been at a higher level of development compared to other regional cities if leaders at all levels were pulling in the same direction.

“Everything has been done but it is   bad politics which is hindering Masaka’s accelerated development.  Leaders prefer to work in cliques, which sometimes leads to internal bickering thus delaying some projects,” Mr Ssenkungu adds

City vendors currently do business until late due to solar lights that illuminate the streets at night. In the past, this was not possible due to darkness and all traders would leave town around 7pm.

 “On streets such as Edward Avenue, Ssaza Area and Nyendo town,  food  vendors  currently work 24 hours in different shifts. The installed solar lamps lit up the city and as such, their safety at work is guaranteed,” Ms Florence Namayanja, the city mayor, says.

She says solar lights are also going to be extended to all areas annexed to the city.

Ms Namayanja says Masaka’s strategic location in central Uganda and near the western region offers the city several business opportunities, which dwellers should tap into.

“Masaka is a unique city along major routes from neighbouring countries such as Rwanda and Tanzania, and it is also surrounded by districts which have remained a food basket of Uganda for a long period of time,” she says.

 She adds that the city’s population, which currently stands at slightly above 200,000, will grow rapidly and attract all kinds of businesses including recreation activities, industries and tourism.

Ms Saidat Najjagwe, who ekes a living from selling fried African lung fish (mamba), says the business has of late become lucrative in Masaka.

“This business has changed the lives of many people here and we ask the government to support us and improve our business better to a standard that can attract high class customers from other cities,” she says.

Mr Simon Peter Kintu, a businessman in Masaka City, says another profitable business is grasshoppers.

“Despite being seasonal, this delicacy [grass hopers] has economically empowered our community here, creating mini-tycoons since it is consumed by many people across Uganda. If some value is added and our people learn to how pack it well for export, I am sure they will fetch more money,” he says. City leaders are currently lobbying to have Masaka listed among intentionally recognised  Ramsar cities (cities with wetlands of international importance), hoping to use this to attract tourists. This comes at a time when the business community in the area is heavily investing in the hotel and hospitality industry.

Some   hotels that have sprung up  around the city include Vienna Gold Hotel, Solo Hites Hotel, Maple Leaf Hotel, Greenville Country Resort,  Court Lane Hotel, Garden Courts Hotel, Banda Lodges, Mariana Gardens and Elsie Hotel.  This adds to a long list of hotels that have been in existence for more than a decade such as Hotel Brovad, Maria Flo, Zebra Hotel , Tropic Inn and Golf Lane Hotel.


Universities opening

Unlike in the past, Masaka currently boasts of various universities, with Muteesa 1 Royal University and Equator University of Science & Technology having their main campuses in the area. Those with branches in the city include Uganda Martyrs University, Kampala University and Team University.

Masaka is among the new regional cities government created in 2020. Last month, the authorities hired architectural consultants to review the city’s current structural plan.

Under the structural plan review, experts will be able to identify spaces and allotments for various land use activities and services in all areas and determine the desired city growth patterns.