KAMPALA – The proposal to relocate Uganda’s capital city from bustling Kampala to Nakasongola has ignited fierce national debate, with opponents arguing that Kampala’s urgent challenges demand attention, not any relocation.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!The development follows a relocation plan formally presented to Parliament’s Lands, Housing and Urban Development Committee by State Minister Margaret Muhanga, with implementation expected to stretch to 2040.
Minister Muhanga confirmed that President Museveni strongly backs the ambitious plan to relocate government operations from overcrowded Kampala to the peaceful district of Nakasongola.
She described Kampala as a city struggling under the weight of relentless traffic and disorganized growth, with daily gridlock alone siphoning about 1.6 billion dollars from the national economy each year.
The Minister emphasized that Kampala will remain Uganda’s undisputed commercial hub, yet shifting administrative functions to a new location would encourage more balanced and inclusive development nationwide.
“Kampala’s role as our commercial hub is not in question. The relocation of administrative functions will not diminish the city’s economic status. Instead, it will allow for a more balanced and sustainable national development strategy,” Minister Muhanga clarified.
Responding to the relocation proposal, Kampala Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo strongly rejected the plan, arguing that the government is only treating a symptom while ignoring the root cause.
He insisted that Kampala’s problems stem from chronic underinvestment, not from any failure of the city itself, and revealed that KCCA gets barely 40 percent of the 2.4 trillion shillings needed yearly for proper infrastructure.
“Kampala’s challenges are not a failure of the city itself, but a failure of investment. You cannot starve a city of resources for decades and then blame the city for failing to thrive. The congestion, the flooding, the dilapidated roads, these are not inevitable. They are the direct result of chronic underfunding,” Balimwezo asserted.
Meanwhile, Rukungiri District Speaker Albert Ahabwe Rwamugata argued that any relocation of government institutions should be driven by practical logic and public benefit, not simply by geographical preference.
He proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture would serve farmers far better if based in a major agricultural region like Masaka, where coffee and banana farming drive the local economy and people could access services directly.
Rwamugata further cautioned that without urgent and thoughtful planning, emerging towns will inevitably fall into the same traps of congestion and crumbling infrastructure that now plague Kampala within the next ten to twenty years.
“Government services should follow function, not fashion. Unless Uganda starts planning its emerging towns properly, they will simply become Kampala’s troubled twins within the next twenty years,” warned Rwamugata.
The proposal to move Uganda’s capital to Nakasongola has sparked deep questions about national identity and resource use, offering the promise of a planned administrative hub that could ease the pressure on Kampala.
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