Tororo City cannot be wished away

It is important for people in Tororo to know that the counties of West Budama and Tororo no longer exist in the laws of Uganda.

COMMENT | THOMAS OKOTH-NYALULU |  I have watched my daughter, Hon. Sarah Opendi’s interview with the Uganda Catholic Television on the current situation in Tororo in relation to appeals by many in the municipality for a new status as a city.

The Woman MP of Tororo district alleged that Tororo Municipality is too small to qualify for city status. She stated, live on television, that there are pending issues in Tororo that ought to be sorted out before the city issue can be handled. Unfortunately she did not expound on the issue at hand.

Let’s be guided that by definition a city is a complex infrastructure typically serving as a centre for politics, economy, culture and entertainment, and note, there is no mention of size and population. I will get back to this shortly, but let me start with the substance in this debate.

Municipalities became Counties in Uganda in 1989 during the NRC elections. During the elections all Municipalities were made Constituencies and therefore Counties.

In Tororo we had West Budama, Tororo County and the Municipality all with their own NRC Members and LC 4 Chairpersons, different from the others. This status quo was affirmed by the 1995 Constitution.

So under the existing legal provisions in Uganda a Municipality is a County and Constituency completely independent. Under the law, the Municipality is not part of any other County.

So it is incorrect to think that you will amalgamate a Municipality into another County and vice versa.

Any county in Uganda is free to request to be elevated to a district. Tororo County therefore accordingly asked to be elevated to a district status and indeed was granted this by President Yoweri Museveni in 2006. The new district’s headquarters were to be in Mukuju. This new status was however rejected by the very people who had requested it.

So I guess, what my daughter was actually talking about as an issue, might be division of Tororo.

Let’s be guided again, that, this can only go according to the existing legal provisions. No amount of Presidential pronouncements on this will replace the provisions of the law, let alone any wishful thinking.

Those who want the district divided can only succeed through the existing legal provisions.

Every Tororo-ian must know that Tororo, together with it’s gazetted headquarters in the Municipality is one of the 39 districts entrenched in the Constitution of Uganda. To remove any of these districts in Uganda, a referendum must be held in the whole country to decide.

So where does the current demand stand in the face of this fact?

Fact is that the Municipality as a County is free to ask to be elevated to a district status, and this is what the City campaign is.

A City in Uganda is an independent district.

It is important for people in Tororo to know that the Counties of West Budama and Tororo Counties no longer exist in the laws of Uganda. They have given birth to completely new Counties. It is therefore futile to think in terms of the old West Budama or Tororo Counties.

Now on the issue of the size of a city, my daughter again needs to be guided.

Does Tororo Municipality qualify to be made a City by geographical area? She asserted that the Municipality is too small for a City.

By definition a City is a Complex Infrastructure typically serving as a centre for politics, economy, culture and entertainment.( no mention of size and population).

The characteristics of a City include:

1. Urban planning and infrastructure.
2. Economic activities
3. Governance
4. Cultural and entertainment options
5. Transportation hubs
6. Diverse population.

Does Tororo Municipality not qualify?

The size of Tororo Municipality is estimated to be 43km square.

Are there cities smaller than Tororo Municipality? Yes, and many:

1.  The Vatican City has a population of 835 and size of 0.44 square kms.
   b. Bishop Castle England population 20 and size 0.13
   c. Seychelles Silhouette Island with population of 200 and 12 km square

There exist even whole Capital Cities far smaller than Tororo

1. Sao Tome and Principe with 14000 and size17 square kms
2. Victoria Seychelles with 26000 and 20 square kms.

On the list of the soon-to-be cities is Moroto (population of 34,443 & 17.5 square kms) which is much smaller than Tororo.

The proposed Moroto City, is not only smaller but does not even have a quarter of the characteristics already available in Tororo like aerodrome, industrial hub etc.

So Tororo-ians, please act realistically with these facts in mind. There are completely no boundary issues in contention in Tororo today.

All Counties, Sub Counties and even parishes have their well defined boundaries.

Using an imaginary boundary dispute as a basis for an argument, is being dishonest to the people of Tororo.

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Thomas Okoth-Nyalulu is a former RDC. He is currently Chairman of the Padhola Elders’ Forum. TEL +256 772 483949 EMAIL thomasnyalulu@gmail.Com

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