Kira Town, a municipality in the
Wakiso District
Wakiso District is a district in the Central Region of Uganda that partly encircles Kampala, Uganda's capital city. The town of Wakiso is the site of the district headquarters.
Kira, the country's second largest city and suburb of Kampala, is in ...
of the
Central Region of
Uganda
}), is a landlocked country in East Africa
East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...
, is the country's second-largest city by population. It is administered by the Kira Town Council, an urban
local government
Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...
.
Location
Kira town council was elevated to Municipal level by an Act of Parliament and became operational in financial year 2016/2017 under vote 781. Kira Municipality is bordered by
Gayaza to the north,
Mukono
Mukono Town is a municipality in Mukono District in the Central Region of Uganda. The town is administered by the Mukono Town Council. The district headquarters are located in this town.
Location
Mukono Municipality is 21 km east of ...
to the east,
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. With a surface area of approximately , Lake Victoria is Africa's largest lake by area, the world's largest tropical lake, and the world's second-largest fresh water lake by surface area after ...
to the south,
Kampala
Kampala (, ) is the capital and largest city of Uganda. The city proper has a population of 1,680,000 and is divided into the five political divisions of Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division, and Ruba ...
to the west, and
Kasangati to the north-west. The town is approximately north-east of the central business district of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The coordinates of the town are 0°23'50.0"N, 32°38'26.0"E (Latitude:0.397237; Longitude:32.640557). The town is approximately in size.
Administration
Kira Municipality is made up of three Divisions of Namugongo, Kira and Bweyogere which are further divided into six administrative
parishes
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
. These are:
The political head of the Municipality is the His Worship the Mayor. Julius Mutebi Nsubuga and Technical head is Mr. Yiga Benon as the Municipal Town Clerk. Each division is politically led by the Chairperson and a Senior Assistant Town Clerk as the Technical head at that leavel
The supreme policy-making organ is the Municipal Council, composed of 17 elected councillors.
Population
Kira Municipality is the largest town (municipality) in Uganda by population. The town is the second-largest urban center in the country, after Kampala.
The population of Kira Town has grown at a relatively rapid rate compared to the national average over the last decade. Part of the rapid growth is attributable to the town's proximity to Kampala.
Kira is a
bedroom community for Kampala.
The national census in 2002 estimated Kira's population to be 140,774 people, of whom 67,222 (47.8 percent) were males and 73,548 (52.2 percent) were females. The Uganda Bureau of Statistics estimated the mid-year 2010 population to be 172,300 and the mid-year 2011 population to be 179,800. The town planner, however, estimated the population to be 300,000 in 2010. In August 2014, the national population census put the population at 317,157.
In 2020, UBOS estimated the population of Kira Town to be 462,900 people. The population agency calculated that the population of the municipality grew at an average rate of 6.68 percent annually, between 2014 and 2020.
Economic activities
A large number of young adults are engaged in
boda boda (motorcycle and bicycle) for-hire transportation. Increasingly, residents of Kira Town are employed in salaried and non-salaried positions in the city of Kampala and return to Kira in the evenings to sleep.
The
Kampala Industrial and Business Park
The Kampala Industrial and Business Park (KIBP), also referred to as Kampala Business and Industrial Park or Kampala Industrial Park, is an industrial and business park in Uganda. The park was developed by the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) a ...
, an business development park developed by the
Uganda Investment Authority
The Uganda Investment Authority (UIA) is a semi-autonomous investment promotion and facilitation organisation in Uganda and is owned by the government of Uganda.
Location
The headquarters of UIA are located at The Investment Center, The Investm ...
at a cost of about US$180 million (about UGX:470.5 billion), is located at
Namanve
Namanve is an area in the Central Region of Uganda. The larger portion of Namanve lies in Kira Municipality, in Wakiso District with portions located in Mukono Municipality, in Mukono District.
Location
Namanve lies in Bweyogerere Ward, in s ...
in Bweyogerere Ward in extreme southeastern Kira Town.
Sites of interest
Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs at Namugongo
The
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs has been built at
Namugongo in Kyaliwajjala Ward, where the majority of the 22 Catholic
Uganda Martyrs (now
Saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s) were burned alive on the orders of Ssekabaka
Mwanga II
Danieri Basammula-Ekkere Mwanga II Mukasa (1868 – 8 May 1903)D. A. Low''Fabrication of Empire: The British and the Uganda Kingdoms, 1890-1902'' Cambridge University Press, 2009, p. 210, note 196. was Kabaka of Buganda from 1884 until 1888 and fro ...
in the late 19th century. An
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
shrine, administered by the
Church of Uganda
The Church of Uganda is a member province of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 37 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop.
Each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each headed by a senior priest known a ...
, is about east of the basilica, at the site where another group of martyrs were murdered for their beliefs.
Kabaka's Palace at Kireka
Kabaka
the kabaka Palace in kireka
Kabaka is the title of the king of the Kingdom of Buganda.Stanley, H.M., 1899, Through the Dark Continent, London: G. Newnes, According to the traditions of the Baganda they are ruled by two kings, one spiritual and ...
Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II
Ronald Edward Frederick Kimera Muwenda Mutebi II (born 13 April 1955) is the reigning Kabaka of Buganda, Kabaka (also known as king) of the Buganda, Kingdom of Buganda, a constitutional kingdom in modern-day Uganda. He is the 36th ''Kabaka'' of Bu ...
and the
Nnabagereka of Buganda
The Nnabagereka is the official title of the Queen consort of the Kingdom of Buganda, a traditional kingdom in modern-day Uganda. The current Nnabagereka is Sylvia Nagginda, who married '' Kabaka'' Muwenda Mutebi II of Buganda on 27 August 1999.
...
,
Sylvia Nagginda, maintain a palace on
Kireka Hill, in Kireka Ward.
Mandela National Stadium
Mandela National Stadium
The Mandela National Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Uganda. It is named after the South African then-President of South Africa, President and Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela. The stadium's record atte ...
is the largest stadium in Uganda, with a sitting capacity of 45,202 people. It is at Namboole, in
Bweyogerere Ward.
Infrastructure
Kampala Northern Bypass Highway
The
Kampala Northern Bypass Highway
The Kampala Northern Bypass Highway, often referred to as the Northern Bypass, is a road in Uganda. It forms a semicircle across the northern suburbs of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. The road was constructed to relieve traffic cong ...
, also referred to as the Northern Bypass, is the first dual-carriage interstate highway to be built in Uganda. It forms an incomplete circle around the north-east, north, and north-west of the city of Kampala. The northern and eastern portion of the highway traverses Bweyogerere and Kireka wards, in Kira Town.
Umeme electricity substation
In 2015, the electricity distribution company
Umeme built a 40 mega
Volt-ampere substation in the
Nsasa
Nsasa is a neighborhood in Kira Municipality, Kyaddondo County, Wakiso District, in the Central Region of Uganda.
Location
Nsasa is bordered by Kigulu to the north, Misindye in Mukono District to the east, Namugongo to the southeast, downtown ...
neighborhood of Kira Town, at a cost of US$7 million (UGX:24 billion). This substation is expected to stabilize the electricity grid and reduce power losses in this fast-growing urban area. Constructing the substation cost US$5 million, while US$2 million was spent on the erection of feeder lines.
Other public health issues
The Public Health Department of Kira Municipality is determined to improve the living conditions of its citizens, through detailed attention to sanitation, provision of safe drinking water, safe disposal of human and other waste, and the maintenance of hygiene in schools, markets, and other public places. Plans are underway to formulate minimum acceptable hygiene standards for private and public buildings and open spaces.
Poverty eradication
Efforts are underway to assist citizens in starting income-producing activities, including growing mushrooms.
Education
A number of first class primary and secondary schools are in the town.
In January 2011, the Shimoni Core Primary Teachers' College opened at
Kitikifumba village in Kira Town. The college, formerly located on
Nakasero Hill in Kampala, was established by the British government in 1952. In 2006, the former location was sold to an investor to construct the
Kampala Intercontinental Hotel. The new location occupies . The facilities can accommodate approximately 450 students. The new college cost approximately UGX:8 billion to build.
In 2011,
St. Augustine International University
King Ceasor University is a private university previously known as St. Augustine International University.
Location
King Ceasor University is a multi-campus university. It maintains the following campuses:
;Bunga Campus
The main campus is loca ...
(SAIU), a private, multi-campus university, received a provisional license from the
Uganda National Council for Higher Education
The Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) is a semi-autonomous government regulatory agency, responsible for the regulation of higher education in Uganda, the third-largest economy in the East African Community. UNCHE is also respon ...
. SAIU is one of a number of private universities accredited between 2010 and 2014. It maintains a campus at
Namugongo, where it hosts its College of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine.
Notable people
*
Arthur Sserwanga
Arthur Sserwanga is a Ugandan accountant, academic, and academic administrator. He was appointed Vice Chancellor of Muteesa I Royal University in September 2014, a private university in Uganda. He previously served as the dean of the Faculty of ...
- Professor, accountant, entrepreneur, and academic administrator, is a native son. Vice chancellor of
Muteesa I Royal University
Muteesa I Royal University (MRU) is a private university in Uganda. It was accredited by the Uganda National Council for Higher Education (UNCHE) in 2007. On 15 June 2016, Justice Julia Sebutinde was installed as Chancellor of the University, rep ...
.
*
Hakim Sendagire
Hakim Sendagire is a Ugandan physician, biochemist, academic and medical administrator. Currently he is the Dean at Habib Medical School, College of Health Sciences of the Islamic University in Uganda, a private university, one of the 41 universi ...
- Professor, physician, microbiologist, biochemist, and academic administrator. Dean of
Habib Medical School
Habib Medical School (HMS) is the school of medicine of the Islamic University in Uganda (IUIU), one of Uganda's private universities. The school is the newest medical school in the country, having been part of IUIU since 2014. The school provide ...
.
See also
*
List of cities and towns in Uganda
This is a list of cities and towns in Uganda: The population data are for 2014, except where otherwise indicated. The references from which the estimated populations are sourced are listed in each article for the cities and towns where the ...
Photos
Photo of Mandela National Stadium
References
External links
{{Wakiso District
Populated places in Central Region, Uganda
Cities in the Great Rift Valley
Populated places on Lake Victoria