Kyenjojo District

Kyenjojo District
—  District  —
District location in Uganda
Coordinates:
Country  Uganda
Region Western Uganda
Sub-region Toro sub-region
Capital Kyenjojo
Population (2010 Estimate)
 • Total 337,300
Time zone EAT (UTC+3)
Website Homepage

Kyenjojo District is a district in Western Uganda. Like most Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town', Kyenjojo, where the district headquarters are located.

Contents

Location

Kyenjojo District is bordered by Kibale District to the north, Kyegegwa District to the east, Kamwenge District to the south and Kabarole District to the west.[1] The district headquarters at Kyenjojo are located approximately 274 kilometres (170 mi), by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.[2] The coordinates of the district are:00 37N, 30 37E.

Overview

Kyenjojo District was created in 2000. It is divided into two counties, Mwenge and Kyaka. Kyenjojo means: "the place where elephants live"; it is derived from the Rutooro word "enjojo", elephant(s). Like in most Ugandan Bantu languages, "Mwenge" means "banana beer". Mwenge county is famous for its banana beer. The meaning of the word "Kyaka" is unclear.

Kwemara Ngabu William, a lecturer at Makerere University, Uganda's largest, says that Kyaka was originally called Nyakibimba. The capital of then Bunyoro was in Kyaka, at a place called Kitara: hence the name Bunyoro Kitara. However the capital was shifted to Masindi. At one time a crown prince died in Nyakibimba on his way to a cattle raiding mission in Kaarokarungi (present day Ankole). The Queen Mother wailed saying "Zankorente", meaning cattle have brought me the problem. Kaarokarungi has since then been called Nkore. The rest of the Banyoro said Nyakibimba was 'Kyaka' to them. Kwaka means to snatch something from someone. The crown prince had died in Nyakibimba then Nyakibimba had snatched a crown prince from Bunyoro. Since then Nyakibimba came to be known as Kyaka.

Kyenjojo District is part of Toro sub-region, which is coterminus with the Kingdom of Toro, one of the ancient traditional monarchies in Uganda. The districts that make up Toro are:

Population

The 2002 national census estimated the population of Kyenjojo District, as configured after July 2010, at at about 266,250.[3] The annual population growth rate of the district was estimated at 3%. It is estimated that the population of Kyenjojo District in 2010 was approximately 337,300. See table below:

Kyenjojo District Population Trends
Year Estimated Population
2002 266,250
2003 274,200
2004 282,500
2005 290,900
2006 299,700
2007 308,700
2008 317,900
2009 327,500
2010 337,300

Economic activities

Agriculture is the main economic activity in the district. The major crops grown include:[4]

External links

See also

References