Yasiin Mugerwa
3 October 2008
Members of Parliament yesterday unanimously voted to block the creation of a new Mengo Municipality pushed by Local Government Minister Kahinda Otafiire.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Public Service and Local Government, Maj Gen Otafiire's plea to have the new proposal accepted was futile as MPs insisted that the new Mengo Municipality boundaries were vague, confusing and unclear.
"We don't want bloodshed in future because of these unclear boundaries," Mr Anthony Yiga (NRM, Kalungu West) the committee chairperson, said. "The government wants to create Mengo municipality but the areas to be cut are not clear and they have not consulted the affected people."
The committee had summoned Gen. Otafiire to present his request to form the four municipalities of Mengo, Mukono, Kasese and Hoima. The committee became scratchy when the minister proposed that parts of Central and Rubaga Division be cut-off to form Mengo Municipality under Wakiso District.
Last month, Gen. Otafiire presented a motion to Parliament seeking the creation of Mengo Municipality, consisting of parts of Rubaga Division and Central Division, where cultural sites of the Buganda kingdom are located, be created and be part of Wakiso District.
The Mengo establishment is opposed to the creation of the municipality on grounds that it's a ploy by the central government to take Kampala city away from Buganda. The kingdom claims Kampala city is under Buganda Kingdom, an assertion contested by the central government. Buganda's cultural sites will be transferred to Wakiso include Lubiri, Butikkiro, Kasubi tombs and Bulange.
Maj Gen Otafiire said, "We are doing this because we want those Baganda claiming that their cultural sites will be taken over to be contented."
Talking about the implications, Mr Yiga said that the implementation of the new Kampala City Master Plan without the creation of Mengo Municipality will mean the central government taking over Mengo government administration including the historical sites.
Asked whether Buganda officials were a threat to the creation of Mengo Municipality, Maj Gen Otafiire said, "I cannot talk on their behalf, they will get their opportunity. But I advise them to come and talk to me on how they want the municipality to be constituted."
According to the committee, saying that Mengo Municipality will consist part of Rubaga and the Central Division is not enough.
MPs said the minister should go back and make clear demarcations that will be presented to Parliament.
"We are going to invite all the concerned groups because we don't want Maracha and Terego controversy to reappear," Mr Yiga said. "This Mengo Municipality is controversial and must be handled with utmost care, otherwise the boundaries should be clearly spelt out."
Mr Yiga told Daily Monitor that the motion seeks to change boundaries of Wakiso District to include Kisenyi and Lubiri among other areas.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
