Masaka stuck with new administrative units

Masaka District Council is currently stuck with the new administrative units that were created to improve service delivery. 

In March 2022, the district council endorsed the proposal for the creation of the units ahead of suspended women council elections and to enable the district to get a bigger share of the Parish Development Model (PDM) funds.  

The new administrative units were carved out of the existing ones. Under the arrangement, all the four sub-counties got new administrative structures.

In Bukakata Sub-county, Bukibonga Parish was split into two (Bukibonga A and B), one parish was carved out of Ssunga Parish while Lambu, Makonzi villages were elevated to parishes. 

Kyesiiga Sub-county, which had four parishes, saw two more parishes created with Kabanda Parish that was carved out of Kyesiiga while Katikamu became a new parish created out of Bbuliro parish. 

In Kyannamukaaka Sub-county, Bukibonga A parish was created out of Bukibonga parish, Zzimwe A parish was carved out of the current Zzimwe parish while Kamwozi A parish was carved out of Kamwozi parish. 

Mr Francis Kimuli, the district speaker, told Daily Monitor that they submitted their proposal to the Ministry of Local government for approval, but it was shelved until 2025.

“We played our part and submitted our file to the ministry, but since there is a  ban on creation of new administrative units, we were told that our issue will be considered in 2025, ” he said. 

Mr Gerald Lubeezi, a councillor representing Bukakata Sub-county, said the old parishes have huge populations, which cripple service delivery.

“The resolution [to create new administrative units] was passed to remind authorities about the injustice in the demarcation of parishes and to call them to action. It is not fair to have a parish with 15 villages yet in some districts there are parishes with two villages,” he said.

Mr Mudashir Bbaale, a councillor representing Persons with Disabilities in Kyesiiga Sub-county, said some parishes comprise more than 15 villages, which makes supervision and governance difficult.

“Because of the large areas in some of these villages and parishes, access to services has been so hard. Dividing them into more villages and parishes will make service delivery easier,’’ he said. 

He cited Kyesiiga that has a population of more than 40,000 and none of its parishes has below 12 villages.

“Instead of the Shs400 million a sub-county received under Parish Development Model programme with extra two parishes, we would have received more money because of the big population,” he added.

Directive

In April 2021, the Minister for Local Government, Mr Raphael Magyezi, indefinitely suspended the creation of new administrative units, arguing that they were overwhelming the ministry’s budget.

He added that the government was grappling with funding 364 sub-counties, 352 town councils, and 10 cities. 

Masaka, one of the traditional districts, has 192 villages, 18 parishes, and four sub-counties, including Bukakkata, Kyanamukkaaka, Kyesiga, and Buwunga .

Originally, the district comprised Rakai, Kalangala, Kyotera, Lyantonde, Sembabule, Bukomansimbi, Kalungu, and Lwengo, making it one of the largest districts in Uganda.