Proliferation of Districts for political expediency is counterproductive.

Vincent Nuwagaba


I was captivated and enthralled by the story in the new vision of Thursday 21st May 2009 titled, “Jopadhola reject new district in Tororo”. I was so pleased with the story that I read it over and over again. The reasons they advance include among others the need to retain their identity. I advanced similar reasons in 2006 in my opposition to the split of Bushenyi district. The creation of an extra district as a matter of fact has its benefits but it surely not cost-effective. Personally, I believe it is a confession by the government that it has failed to fulfill its obligation of service delivery. Definitely any new district will have technical staff at the headquarters and extra political leaders. But this is an extra strain to the national economy because most of these people especially politicians are less productive. That the Jopadhola leaders rejected this populist move which is likely to elicit ire from some of their naïve local residents shows their high level of patriotism. They have shown that they look beyond pettiness and self-aggrandisement. They indubitably merit a standing ovation and I wish other communities could pick a leaf from them.

There is a lame alibi often advanced that the creation of a district brings services closer to the people. I vehemently discount this alibi. First of all what services are associated with a district? People will tell you electricity, roads and hospitals. Can’t government offer these services without necessarily elevating a certain locality to a district status? It is paradoxical that at a time we are talking about uniting as Africans, we are dividing ourselves into small unviable entities. This is balkanization which the president was initially diametrically opposed to. What could have happened to our president? Could he have metamorphosed into a different person altogether? The Swahili adage that umoja ni nguvu holds water at this point in time. If a district is subdivided into smaller entities, more often than not the bond that held together the natives is broken. For instance, today when I meet someone from Sheema, I take them to be closer to me on account of being from the same district as opposed to someone from Rukungiri Town yet the distance from my place to Rukungiri is shorter than to Kabwohe or Itendero. Thus, a new district necessarily disjoints people who were hitherto bonded together by one district.

But most importantly is the question of costs of administration. Creation of new districts calls for establishing new non-economical structures which cost the nation colossal sums of money which otherwise would be used to better the standards of universal primary education and quality of services. Ironically of all the new districts that have been approved none has been carved out of Bushenyi. This tells us that subjective reasons have been the driving factor in the creation of new districts. It is apparent that the creation of districts may benefit a few elites but inflicts a heavy burden on the ordinary people. The people may even be taxed through the nose to sustain the new district because as a matter of fact the central government remittances are inadequate. One would only be naïve not to realize that the proliferation of districts thwarts the provision of quality services.

My people always tell me if we have more districts, our children will benefit more from the quota scholarship scheme. I propose that this be revisited. Tiny districts with a tiny populace and a tiny tax base should not be given similar slots with a huge district with a huge populace and huge tax base such as Bushenyi. Accordingly, rather than granting districts the government should revise the manner it distributes political goods and services. Proliferation of districts for political expediency will only turn out to be counterproductive.

I would like our parliament sliced in order to save taxpayers the heavy burden yet the cabinet has now in a blink of an eye approved an addition of fourteen women members making our parliament overly obese. Is this not a mockery of Ugandan taxpayers? I surmise that the proliferation of districts is antithetical to patriotism because it will not solve our problems but will amplify them. It would be prudent if the money spent on creating new districts was channeled to creating jobs for our graduates who languish on the streets through building factories or extending unsecured business loans to them. I propose that Dr Tanga Odoi and company be appointed to teach Ugandans patriotism for they have proven that they put their money where their mouth is.

Vincent Nuwagaba
vnuwagaba@gmail.com

Vincent Nuwagaba is a Political Scientist and a human rights defender.