KABALE- Members of Kabale Elders Forum have petitioned President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni requesting an opportunity to meet him at earliest convenience and present their grievances, views and seek guidance on the operationalization of Kabale City.
This comes after the team of Kabale Elders Forum who had a 3 page written petition they wanted to present to President Museveni during his recent tour of Kigezi Sub-region to assess the implementation of the Parish Development Model program were denied an opportunity to hand it over.
The Kabale Elders were appealing to President Museveni to consider prioritizing the operationalization of Kabale City by 1st July 2025 as originally planned so that the people can fully benefit from the advantages that come with the City status.
The Elders pointed out clearly that they trust President Museveni leadership and commitment to equitable development and remain hopeful that Kabale will be granted its rightful place among Uganda’s operational cities.
“Over the past 5 years, poverty levels have in Kigezi risen from 24% to 27% surpassing the national average of 21% according to Uganda National Bureau of Statistics and this trend highlights the urgent need for targeted interventions to spur economic growth and improve livelihoods” the petition reads in parts.
The petitioners claim that although in 2019, the government created 15 cities of which 10 became operational in 2020, bringing significant social economic transformation to those regions, the remaining 5 cities, including Kabale were rescheduled to become operational on 1st 2025, however a cabinet meeting on 16th 2024, decided to postpone this plan indefinitely citing budgetary constraints, upon which all other cities have been operatively sustained.
They claim that this decision has had a demoralizing impact on the people of Kabale and Kigezi Sub Region in general, because many of them had made economic and infrastructural preparations in anticipation of the City status because the people had expected benefits from increased investments, job creation, and more improved social service delivery.
In the petition, the Kabale Elders reminded the President that Kigezi has a unique geographical perspective and this brings unique economic challenges and while they appreciate President Museveni vision of Parish Development Model program and other initiatives, Kigezi as a whole remain disadvantaged because of these distinct challenges.
They claim that with limited access to large land holdings, the 4 Acre Model remain difficult to implement as land is fragmented, soil is depleted, and the hilly and steep terrain cannot allow agricultural mechanisation and low lands are predominantly wetlands which cannot allow large scale agriculture, besides the practice could destroy the environment which President has preached against.
“Limited access to incentives like free interest loan that would benefit them cannot be got since supporting Commercial Banks can only give such money to people owning more 50 than acres which makes a city status the only alternative engine for viable economic transformation,” they said .
The Elders also say that Urban development has been proven as a driver of economic prosperity according to the World Bank report that indicate that for every dollar invested in urban development, it generates four dollars in economic benefits and therefore Kabale City would stimulate growth across multiple sectors of development benefiting both the urban and rural populations.
“The city status is a well-known catalyst for economic growth that attract investment and increasing demand for goods and services” the petition reads.
In light of all these, the Kabale Elders whose leaders include highly trained and retired Army officers who include Major General Sabiiti Mutebile, a Russian trained Architectural Planner with very successful implementations registered at the helm of the UPDF Engineering Brigades’ national projects and assisted by Lt Gen Jim Owoyesigyire argue that the strategic vision for Kabale City once operationalised will position it as a hi-tech innovation hub for business and entrepreneurship, a center for excellence in education and health care, a tourism hot-spot with world class attractions like Lake Bunyonyi and the famous Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, a mineral cross border trade hub benefiting from its close proximity to Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, giving the City a catalyst for infrastructural developments that foster growth in housing, industrial development and job creation.
Kigezi is centrally located in the heart of the entire East African Community Administratively spanning Nairobi, Juba, Mogadishu, Goma, Kinshasa, Kigali and Dodoma.
The Elders made it categorically clear that delays in operationalisation of Kabale City will therefore have negative consequences that include economic stagnation and loss of investment opportunities, erosion of public trust in the government, political marginalisation and regional imbalance, increased insecurity and crime due to youth unemployment.
They claimed that since Uganda has already secured US 750 million dollars from the World Bank, Kabale must be positioned to benefit from the funding like other regions.
Kabale District Elders Forum is apolitical, nonsectarian and their advocacy is driven by the desire to uplift the social economic transformation of the people in Greater Kigezi and ensure equitable development.
Other notable Leaders of Kabale Elders Forum include Dr Francis Runumi, Caleb Turyamutunga, Mayor Sentaro Byamugisha, Morris Kaitaba, Barnabas Tugumisirize, Yosamu Baguma, Hajji Asuman Kirarira and Ms Kandida Ndamata.
It should be well noted that Kigezi, once codenmamed the Switzerland of Africa by Winston ChurchHill the famous UK Premier, is home to significant public figures among many others all over the world that include the Emeritus Rt Hon John Patrick Amama Mbabazi and Dr Livingstone Ruhakana Rugunda who were too instrumental in the revolution that brought the current NRM Government into power transforming their homeland with President Museveni.
Ever since the colonial debacle in Kigezi, where the British largely failed to administratively enforce Kigezi indegenous farmers to adopt a European crops servitude supply economy as Grace Carswell reveals in her book; “Cultivating Success in Uganda: Kigezi Farmers and Colonial Policies”, the entrepreneuarial resilience of the indigenous people of Kigezi has been steadily growing with a robust locally-based economy that existed across the region without boarders way before colonial rule where local community strategies were often more sustainably beneficial than colonially imposed policies.
Kigezi was only to be granted it’s first Municipality status ordinance 40 years ago in 1985 during 1981-1986 NRA liberation war administered from Kabale and Kigezi Elders are currently up in arms demanding for their deserved and already constitutionally granted City of Kigezi.
