New Cities Will Share Property With Mother Districts, According to Hon. Rusoke

Regulations to facilitate the sharing of property between new cities and the districts from which the cities were created are currently being finalized by the Ministry of Local Government.

According to the Minister of State for Local Government, Hon. Victoria Busingye Rusoke, the regulations are meant to stop fights and assist in resolving the issue of property sharing between the districts and the cities.

On Tuesday, September 27, 2022, before the Government Assurance and Implementation Committee, which was presided over by Hon. Joseph Ssewungu, the Vice-Chairperson, Minister Rusoke gave a status report on the operationalization of new cities.

The creation of 15 cities, including Jinja, Mbarara, Gulu, Mbale, Arua, Fort Portal, and Masaka, was approved by Parliament in April 2020. Cities of Lira, Soroti, and Entebbe are among the others.

Hon. Ssewungu asked the Minister to explain how to resolve disputes over property between mother districts and cities as well as the issue of some cities’ infrastructure not changing at all since they were founded.

“These cities are currently engaged in conflict with one another, and those who were removed from the cities to be relocated to the parent district have resisted leaving them. I’ll use the Masaka district as an example because they claim to have resources in the city, the man said.

According to Minister Rusoke, a regulation to address the division of property between the cities and the districts is nearly complete.

She stated that in accordance with section 175 of the Local Government Act, they are collaborating with the Attorney General to develop the Local Government City Regulation.

“Last Thursday, I assigned an officer to visit the Attorney General’s office and bring us the feedback, just to reassure the committee. They said they’d bring a copy this week on Thursday,” he said.

According to her, the proposed framework calls for an equitable distribution of the property among cities and districts. Additionally, according to Rusoke, they have put a stop to any sales or further sharing of the property up until the completion of the regulations.

However, according to Hon. Sssewungu, there should be a law, not just a regulation based on the Local Government Act.

For example, there has been squabbling over the administration buildings located in Kamukuzi division, Mbarara City, between the local government of Mbarara district and the Mbarara city council. District leaders in Lira and Soroti want equal compensation for their properties from the cities and other entities.