By John V Sserwaniko
A special Think Tank that specializes on advising the President on economic matters has weighed in strongly objecting to the proposed creation of new cities which Local Government Minister Tom Butime has been advocating for-showing readiness to commence operationalization in July this very year 2019.
Each city will annually be allocated Shs46bn to provide services to the citizens therein, according to Butime.
Comprising of some of Uganda’s finest planning technocrats from National Planning Authority (NPA), Presidential Economic Council (PEC) and the Finance Ministry, the Think Tank members have eloquently made their argument in a huge document titled “Comments & Recommendations on the draft cabinet memorandum on the creation of new cities.”
The 10 page objection is addressed to Local Government Minister Tom Butime and copied to other big government offices including the Premier Ruhakana Rugunda, Public Service Minister, Lands Minister, Finance Minister Matia Kasaijja, Planning Minister David Bahati, PS Local Government Ben Kumumanya and his State Minister Jennifer Namuyangu.
It’s jointly signed by two eminent Think Tank members namely Prof Sam Obwoya Kinyera and (NPA ED) Dr. Joseph Muvawala whose views have lately moved the President’s views on so many fundamental things including the restoration of Uganda Airlines. It’s something the President was very reluctant to endorse fearing it might be loss-making but the Planning House-based Think Tank members moved him to abandon his original position.
ON CITIES
On the cities, the Think Tank members say the idea generally is okay because it can expedite the badly-needed urbanization of Uganda but they question the haste and haphazard manner in which Tom Butime is proceeding like there is no tomorrow.
They are advising the President to intervene and call Butime to order because his cabinet memorandum on the new cities totally disregards a much more comprehensive cities-creation criterion that is contained in the country’s national Planning Framework articulated under Vision 2040. That Butime’s planned cities aren’t only going to be financially unsustainable but will also significantly distort the intended outcomes envisaged under Vision 2040.
The Presidential Think Tank members question why Butiime’s cabinet memo omits key cities like Nakasongola and Moroto that are deeply rooted in the Vision 2040 to achieve key strategic planning objectives for the country. The Vision 2040 elaborately talks of the need to decongest Kampala by having many other jurisdictions with city status.
Four of them are regional cities including Gulu, Mbale, Mbarara and Arua. Another five are captured in the Vision 2040 as strategic cities (being created for strategic reasons) and these include the Oil city of Hoima, the Industrial City of Nakasongola, the Tourism city of Fort Portal, the Mining City of Moroto and the Industrial city of Jinja.
The Think Tank members, who have vast influence on the President because of their selflessness, independent-mindedness, knowledge and experience, are also castigating Butime’s cabinet paper for advocating creation of cities without adequate alignment to Vision 2040 and the NDP II derived thereof. These two planning frameworks shouldn’t be departed from, the authors argue, because they were arrived at following prolonged consultation leading to a national consensus that preceded the unveiling of Vision 2040.
Besides unjustifiably excluding Moroto and Nakasongola cities, the Butime cabinet memo is also faulted for haphazardly smuggling onto the list Entebbe and Lira for elevation to city status which aren’t anywhere in the Vision 2040. This is dismissed as unhelpful fragmentation distorting the contents that are well articulated in Vision 2040.
Dr. Muvawala and Prof Kinyera eloquently argue that Gulu and Lira shouldn’t be duplicated into two cities notwithstanding the short term political dividend that duplication might bring for their boss the President. The duo argue that Vision 2040 duly captures the two to form one city because the distance between them (Gulu and Lira) is just 100kms. They can viably be merged into one metropolis as opposed to creating them as two distinct cities, creating additional cost to the government whose coffers are already constrained.
In Entebbe’s case, Muvawala and Kinyera rightly argue that the Greater Kampala Metropolitan Area (GKMA), comprising of Kampala, Entebbe, Wakiso, Mukono and Mpigi districts already adequately takes care of Entebbe making Butiime’s plans totally counterproductive and unnecessary. The two Think Tank members argue that “fragmenting GKMA [creating Entebbe city] will further complicate effective planning of the Kampala Metropolitan Area.”
That lessons ought to be learned from the confusion that resulted from the haphazard manner in which KCCA was created under the KCCA Act. They argue that the ambiguity surrounding how the cities will be funded is something that must worry all right-thinking members of society because 100% relying on the already constrained Consolidated Fund is simply not sustainable. That fiscal decentralization should be considered to enable the new cities raise their own finances to sustainably meet their HR and infrastructural requirements.
Butime says the new cities will be operationalized effective July 2019, July 2020 and July 2021 but the Think Tank members fault him for not disclosing the factors/justification informing the effective operationalization date for the different cities. That just like was the case with KCCA, the new cities cabinet memo is ambiguous on the separation of roles for political and technical leaders of the cities.
They demand clarity as to how the lower level leaders (in Municipalities & Divisions) will relate with the overall City Mayor who will be the political head for each of the proposed cities. That there is need to amend the Local Government Act, under which Butime is purporting to create the new cities, to be clearly stipulate the functions and services the cities will render. On the sequencing of the cities, the Think Tank members question the criterion Butime is using to determine which cities come first and which ones later.
Butime’s cabinet memo lists NPA, the Ministries of Finance, Lands and Local Government as the key government agencies to be involved in the implementation of the proposed cities but it’s vague on the overall institutional and coordinational oversight. There is also total silence on the appropriate governance, management and staffing structures in Butime’s cabinet memo. The Think Tank members also criticize the Butime approach for being one that prioritizes developing individual administrative jurisdictions as opposed to the Vision 2040 framework that envisages countrywide urbanization taking place in a uniform & harmonized way.
When it comes to legal framework, Butime’s memo bases only on the Local Government Act whose provisions the Think Tank members say are very inadequate when it comes to Management and Administration of cities. They say that problematic as it has always been, the KCCA Act of 2010 is the only legal framework in Uganda that provides for management and administration of cities similar to what Butime is putting in place. There is need for more supportive legal framework example being the “conurbation law.”
The Museveni planning experts also advise that operationalization of the Butime proposed cities be halted until the urbanization-related laws (like KCCA Act, Physical Planning Act etc) have undergone adequate review to eliminate possible contradictions between them. That there is also need to allow the Urban Planning Ministry time to finalize the National Physical Development Plan which they are developing to provide uniform standards for all cities in Uganda.
Politically headed by Isaac Musumba, the same Ministry is also developing uniform regulations and guidelines for city development in this country. Gratefully, Isaac Musumba’s Ministry is doing all this in close consultation with NPA and Local Government Ministry. “These instruments need to be in place before operationalization of the cities as [provided] in the Vision 2040,” the Think Tank experts emphasize in their missive.
They also say that moving cautiously on the much publicized cities is necessary to ensure their operationalization doesn’t contradict the intentions of the Presidential Directive on Rationalization of Mushrooming Agencies. That it’s also important to reflect on globally-heeded best practices whenever new cities are being established.
The Think Tank members’ dossier is an outcome of carefully review and scrutiny of a number of very vital documents including the 1995 Constitution, Local Government Act, National Physical Planning Act of 2010, KCCA Act of 2010, Uganda Vision 2040 and the Second National Development Plan.
The authors caution on the dangers that could potentially result from unplanned creation of cities including traffic jams, high crime rates, poor service delivery, unemployment and urban poverty. Yet properly planned cities’ establishment in a manner envisaged in Vision 2040 will lead to benefits like improving on available infrastructure and on facilities for industrial development; creation of high value jobs, increasing productivity of citizens and better income levels.
That the objective of decongesting Kampala will only be achieved if the new cities are created as per the Vision 2040 script. Butime is also faulted for not disclosing the financial implications and the fiscal impact his new cities are going to occasion onto the Consolidated Fund. The authors also caution thus: “Given the experience of Kampala, the assumption that the cities will operate as Local Governments is farfetched. We strongly recommend that government quickly rethinks the governance and management issues of cities and this might involve withdrawing the KCCA law and creating one overall [law].” To “avoid substantial fiscal impact to an already constrained budget,” the cities have to be carefully planned and sequenced. The Museveni experts advise that more comprehensive consultations be carried out to get all stakeholders on board before operationalizing the Butime cities. (For comments, call, text or whatsapp us on 0703164755 or email us at mulengera2040@gmail.com).
