Five new cities remain in limbo

Local Government minister Raphael Magyezi has said the fate of five new cities remains unclear after a court decision delivered three years ago nullified their creation.

“[It is because of the] court ruling. We don’t operationalise new units in the middle of term… It’s not about money, it’s about the law,” Mr Magyezi said yesterday.

The municipalities of Entebbe, Nakasongola, Moroto, Kabale, and Wakiso were on April 28, 2020 elevated to city status by Parliament alongside 10 other major towns, including; Mbale, Soroti, Jinja, Lira, Gulu, Mbarara, Fort Portal, Arua, Masaka, and Hoima. However, while the 10 towns effectively became cities on July 1 that year, the operationalisation of the five remains in limbo.

The court ruling followed a petition by then Masaka district chairman, Mr Jude Mbabaali along with 11 colleagues in which they argued that Mr Magyezi flouted the Local Government Rules (CAP 243) when he issued guidelines, instead of a statutory instrument establishing the new administrative units.

Masaka High Court judge, Mr Moses Kawumi Kazibwe on October 27, 2020 agreed with petitioners, and ruled that the Local Government Act empowers the line minister to issue guidelines on matters in his jurisdiction through a statutory instrument, and not by pronouncements delivered at a press conference as Mr Magyezi is reported to have done.

“The purported guidelines did not, therefore, have any force of law since they were not a statutory instrument under Section 175, and were never published in the gazette or laid before Parliament,” he stated.

As a consequence, Mr Magyezi has indicated the five new cities remain on hold. The minister did not respond to questions about whether he will be issuing the necessary instrument giving effect to the five urban units following the court decision.

According to the initial plan, Entebbe would be a city beginning July 1, 2022, followed by Nakasongola, Moroto; Kabale, and Wakiso on July 1, this year.

Separately, in May, 2021, the ministry announced plans to amend the law to enable effective running of new urban local governments, drawing a clear distinction between them and their mother districts. Currently, Section 4 of the Local Government Act 1997 does not provide for two distinct administrative units within the same district, a situation which has resulted in operational difficulties.

For instance, Auditor general John Muwanga in his 2022 annual audit report said that newly created cities face a number of challenges, among them extreme funding constraints. Staffing also remains an issue which is also complicated by a lack of guidance from the minister on sharing of assets and transfer of liabilities, Mr Muwanga reported.

According to the report, the ten new cities had a combined approved budget of Shs468.5 billion, of which they raised Shs427.3 billion, indicating a shortfall of Shs41.2 billion.

Mbarara city with an approved Shs62.4b budget collected Shs56.1b, Jinja collected Shs50.9b out of the approved Shs58b. Hoima collected Shs32.4b out of Shs33.5b, and Lira Shs42b out of the approved Shs42.2b.

Masaka managed Shs39.3b out of Shs42.2b, Arua Shs49.3b out of Shs51.9b. Fort Portal collected Shs31.6b out of the approved Shs32.6b and Soroti raised Shs27.1b out of Shs32.2b. It was only Mbale city that collected the Shs54.5b that had been approved, according to the report.

The AG further revealed that Jinja, Mbarara, Soroti, Mbale and Soroti had undisclosed liabilities amounting to Shs1.7 billion.

Last month, Mr Magyezi told this publication that his ministry is hunting for Shs51.2b to enable them build offices for 10 districts that were displaced by the cities, and 312 new sub-counties, among others.

In its 2022/2023 annual report on equal opportunities released last week, the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) revealed that eight of the new cities are not fit for purpose.

The Commission based its conclusion on a 2017 National Urban Policy which classifies a city as an urban area which has a population of 300,0000 people living within a radius f 50 square kilometres; has an integrated development plan, and can raise sufficient revenue to sustain its operations.

Under the policy, a city must also be able to deliver essential services and have adequate capacity for disaster management and waste management. Only Mbale with 339,000 people and Arua with 380,000 people qualify within the policy framework. The rest, including Jinja with 277,500 people, Lira 256,000, Masaka 233,000, Mbarara 229,000, Gulu 219,000, Hoima 131,000, Fort Portal 119,900, and Soroti with 74,800 fall short.

However, Mr Magyezi said the necessary population and area was realised by carving out more territory from mother districts.

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