Kira Town
| Kira Kira Municipality | |
|---|---|
  Kira | |
| Coordinates: 00°23′50″N 32°38′20″E / 0.39722°N 32.63889°E | |
| Country |
 Uganda |
| Region | Central Uganda |
| District | Wakiso District |
| Parliamentary Constituency | Kyaddondo East |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Mamerito Mugerwa[1] |
| • Member of Parliament | Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda [2] |
| Area | |
| • | 38.16 sq mi (98.83 km2) |
| Elevation | 3,900 ft (1,190 m) |
| Population (2012 Estimate) | |
| • Total | 300,000+[3] |
| • Density | 7,862/sq mi (3,035.5/km2) |
Kira Town is a municipality in Wakiso District in Central Uganda. It is administered by Kira Town Council, an urban local government within Wakiso District Administration.[4]
Location
Kira Town is bordered by Gayaza to the north, Mukono Town to the east, Lake Victoria to the south, the city of Kampala to the west and Kasangati Municipality to the northwest. The coordinates of the town are:00 24 00N, 32 38 24E (Latitude:0.4000; Longitude:32.6400).[5] The town lies approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) northeast of the central business district of the city of Kampala, Uganda’s capital. The total area of the town is 98.83 square kilometres (24,420 acres) or 38.15 square miles (9,880 ha).
Administration
Kira Town is divided into six administrative units called Wards. These are:
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Organizational structure
The political head of the town is the mayor who is elected to a five-year term by universal adult suffrage across the six wards. The supreme policy-making organ is the Town Council, composed of 24 elected councilors. The technical staff of the municipality is headed by the town clerk, under whom there are several municipal departments.
Population
Kira Town is the largest municipality in Uganda, by population.[6] The town is the second-largest urban center in the country, after Kampala, the national capital, and the largest metropolitan area in the country. The last national census in 2002 estimated Kira’s population to be 140,774 people, of whom 67,222 (47.8%) were males and 73,548 (52.2%) were females. The 2002 census gave the following figures for each of the six wards:
| 2002 Kira Town Population Census | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
In 2011, the Uganda Bureau of Statitistics (UBOS) estimated the population of the town had increased to about 179,800.[7] In 2012, the Kira Town planner estimated the town's population at 300,000 and growing. Population trendsThe population of Kira Town has grown at a relatively rapid rate, compared to the national average over the last decade. Part of the rapid growth is attributable to the town's proximity to Kampala, the national capital and largest city in the country (est. pop: 1,659,600 in 2011), with Kira serving as a bedroom community for the city. Economic activitiesMany women in the town engage in such activities as hair care, road-side groceries, market vending, restaurants, and health care clinics. Men are mainly engaged in wholesale and retail merchandising, taxi driving and boda boda (motorcycle and bicycle) for-hire transportation. Increasingly, residents of Kira Town are employed in salaried and non-salaried positions in the city of Kampala and return to Kira in the evenings to sleep. Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP), a 894 hectares (2,210 acres) business development park developed by the Uganda Investment Authority at a cost of US$43 million, is located at Namanve, in Bweyogerere Ward in extreme southeastern Kira Town.[8][9] Sites of interestBasilica of the Uganda Martyrs at NamugongoThe Catholic Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs has been built at Namugongo, located in Kyaliwajjala Ward, where the majority of the twenty two Catholic Uganda Martyrs (now Saints) were burned alive on the orders of Ssekabaka Mwanga II in the late 19th century.[10] An Anglican shrine, administered by the Church of Uganda, is located about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), east of the Catholic Basilica, at the site where another group of Martyrs were murdered for their beliefs. Kabaka’s Palaces at Kireka and BandaKabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and the Nnabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda, maintain palaces: one at Kireka and another at Banda, both in Kireka Ward. Mandela National StadiumMandela National Stadium is the largest stadium in Uganda, with a sitting capacity of 45,202 people. It is at Namboole, in Bweyogerere Ward.[11] InfrastructureHealthcareKira Town has five health centers, four of which are level II. Plans are underway to upgrade the one Level III Health Center at Kira into Kira Hospital. When fully developed, Kira Hospital will have an Outpatient Department, a Maternity Ward, a Children’s Ward and an Adult Inpatient Ward. It will serve as a referral center for the other four outlying municipal health centers in the town. Kira Municipality is working together with the American NGO Ugandan American Development Coalition Inc. (UGADEC) to realize this goal. On average, about 100 outpatients per day are seen at each of the five municipal health centers, bringing the total to approximately 500 patients daily throughout the municipality. Road Construction and MaintenanceIn 2006, there were a total of 220 kilometres (140 mi) of road network in the town of which only 9.4 kilometres (5.8 mi) (4.3%) were tarmacked. The acquisition of a grader in 2006 was expected to assist in maintaining the municipality road network. More of the municipality roads need to be tarmacked.[12] In 2009, a second, brand new tractor-grader was purchased by the Town Council at a cost of approximately US$300,000. At its inaugural ceremony, it was announced that the equipment will be used 60% of the time in Kira Town. The remaining 40% of the time it will be rented out to neighboring jurisdictions to raise funds for its maintenance. Between 2006 and 2009, a total of 17.5 kilometres (10.9 mi) of roads within the town were covered with bitumen for the first time, bringing the total of road-miles in the town that are tarmacked to 27 kilometres (17 mi) (12.2%) The Kampala Northern Bypass HighwayThe Kampala Northern Bypass Highway, also referred to as the Northern Bypass, is the first dual-carriage interstate highway to be built in Uganda. It forms an incomplete circle around the northeast, north and northwest of the city of Kampala. The northern and eastern portion of the highway traverses Bweyogerere and Kireka wards, in Kira Town.[13] Solid waste managementThe municipality has acquired a 5 acres (2.0 ha) property for the construction of a modern, environmentally safe waste management facility. Efforts are underway to obtain garbage trucks and waste disposal bins and skips. The municipality welcomes willing stakeholders who can partner with the town to create a safe, sanitary and environmentally safe garbage disposal system for Kira Town. Other public health issuesThe Public Health Department of Kira Town is determined to improve the living conditions of its citizens, through detailed attention to sanitation, provision of safe drinking water, safe disposal of human and other waste and the maintenance of hygiene in schools, markets and other public places. Plans are underway to formulate minimum acceptable hygiene standards for private and public buildings as well as open spaces.[14] Poverty eradicationKira Town Council is actively engaged in devising ways to create gainful employment for all citizens who are capable of working. There are efforts at Council level to provide adult literacy classes to those adults who are willing and able to learn. Efforts are underway to assist citizens in starting income-producing activities like poultry farming, small animal husbandry, brick-laying, carpentry, crafts manufacture, growing mushrooms and other vegetables. SchoolsKira Town is home to over one hundred and fifty elementary schools, of which about thirty are government schools and the rest are privately owned. There are over sixty secondary schools, ten of which are government schools and the rest being private. These schools face multiple challenges including insufficient classroom space, insufficient accommodation for teachers, insufficient food supplies, inadequate or outdated textbooks and lack of modern electronic communications. In January 2011, Shimoni Primary Teachers’ Training College, opened at Kitikifumba, in Kira Municipality. The college, formerly located on Nakasero Hill, was established by the British Government in collaboration with the Indian Goan community, in 1952. In 2007, the former location was sold to an investor to construct the thirty-story luxury Kampala Intercontinental Hotel. The new location in Kira Town occupies 25 acres (10 ha). The facilities can accommodate approximately four hundred and fifty students and teaching staff. The new college cost approximately US$4 million (UGX:8 billion) to build.[15] Photos
See also
References
External links
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