Why Masaka City hall project has failed to take off

The construction works for Masaka City Council headquarters have failed to kick off two years after the council allocated funds for the project.

In 2020, Masaka City Council earmarked Shs2b to kick-start construction works for the new office block but works have not started to date.

The city hall project was reflected in the Financial Year 2020-2021 city budget and Shs500m was mobilised through local revenue while Shs1.5b was acquired from the sale of mayor’s gardens land.

This delay has been blamed on several issues ranging from lack of funds to contention on where to construct the city headquarters.

The city leadership led by the mayor, Ms Florence Namayanja, had proposed the project to be put on a four-acre piece of land at Kitabiro Hill behind the Uganda Post Office building in the heart of the Masaka City, which Masaka District claims to be part of its properties and it is currently housing the district headquarters.

The fight over ownership of this land where the city authorities want to construct their headquarters, according to a section of councillors at Masaka City Council, is partly blamed for the delay of the project.

Mr Godfrey Bamanyisa, the Masaka City clerk, also admits that a land dispute has affected their plans to erect new offices. 
“That challenge [of land dispute] has affected us in one way or another. But the designs and artistic impression for the five storeyed city hall from Obuntu Consultants Company will soon be ready and construction works will kick off thereafter,” he said in an interview on Tuesday.

The city council authorities have, in the last five years, been under fire over the Shs1.5b collected from the sale of the former mayor’s gardens land, which the city had earmarked to kick start construction works for the city hall.

However, Masaka City speaker Tony Ssempijja said they have agreed with the executive to table the construction of a new city hall for further discussion in the next meeting. 

“It is true the issue of the city hall has delayed but it’s going to be among the key issues that will be discussed in the next council sitting,” he said.

Masaka is among the regional towns that were elevated to city status effective July 1, 2020. Others are Arua, Hoima, Mbale Gulu, Jinja, Fort Portal, Soroti and Mbarara.

Masaka last had a well-designed council hall in the 1970s, but the structure was destroyed during the war that led to the ouster of former President Idi Amin.

In 2011, a half-acre piece of land that housed the destroyed town hall was allocated to the defunct Crane Bank to construct its branch in Masaka. 

Later the municipal council passed a resolution to sell the mayor’s gardens to raise money to finance the construction of a new city hall.

The proposed city hall is expected to be constructed on a five-acre piece of land adjacent to the new Bank of Uganda Currency Centre on Katwe Road.

Currently, the city offices are housed in government structures on Edward Avenue in Masaka City.