Kazo is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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 ...

's Western Region. It is located approximately west of Uganda's capital

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 ...

. It covers an area of and recorded a population of 177,054 in the 2014 Ugandan census. The capital of the district is the town of Kazo.

Geography

Kazo District is located in the pastoral rangelands of southwestern Uganda. It borders the districts of

Kamwenge Kamwenge is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the site of the Kamwenge District headquarters. Location Kamwenge is approximately , by road, west of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. This is approximately , by road, southe ...

to the northwest, Kyegegwa to the northeast, Sembabule to the east, and Kiruhura to the south, and

Ibanda Ibanda is a town in the Western Region of Uganda. It is the main political, administrative, and commercial centre of Ibanda District and the site of the district headquarters. It started wayback in 1990s and was elevated from a trading centre ...

to the west. Kazo District is located at an elevation of over above sea level. Its relief consists of low hills and rolling plains, which are drained by seasonal streams. The

Katonga River The Katonga River is a river in Uganda, in East Africa. Location and description The Katonga River is located in the southwestern part of Uganda. Its channel is continuous between Lake Victoria and Lake George, reflecting that it once drained awa ...

forms the northern border of the district, and the Katonga Wildlife Reserve lies on the other side of the river in the districts of Kamwenge and Kyegegwa. Kazo District lies in the

Victoria Basin forest-savanna mosaic Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

ecoregion. Common trees in the area include ''

Acacia ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...

'' and ''

Albizia ''Albizia'' is a genus of more than 160 species of mostly fast-growing subtropical and tropical trees and shrubs in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae. The genus is pantropical, occurring in Asia, Africa, Madagascar, America and A ...

'' spp. Rainfall is relatively low and unreliable, averaging about annually and peaking in April–May and October–November. Temperatures range between , averaging over .

History

The area of what is now Kazo District was originally part of the chiefdom of

Buhweju Buhweju is a monarchy, kingdom in what is Uganda today. It was incorporated into the British Ankole protectorate in 1901. It was ruled by an Omukama, Omugabe, which is often translated as "king of kings". The last hereditary Omugabe was Daudi Nd ...

, which was incorporated into the

Protectorate of Uganda The Protectorate of Uganda was a protectorate of the British Empire from 1894 to 1962. In 1893 the Imperial British East Africa Company transferred its administration rights of territory consisting mainly of the Kingdom of Buganda to the Brit ...

in 1901 as part of the district of

Ankole Ankole (Nkore language, Runyankore: ''Nkore''), was a traditional Bantu peoples, Bantu kingdom in Uganda and lasted from the 15th century until 1967. The kingdom was located in south-western Uganda, east of Lake Edward. History Ankole Realm, K ...

. After the

1971 Ugandan coup d'état The 1971 Ugandan coup d'état was a military coup d'état executed by the Ugandan military, led by general Idi Amin, against the government of President Milton Obote on 25 January 1971. The seizure of power took place while Obote was abroad attend ...

, the district's name was changed to

Mbarara Mbarara City is a city in the Western Region of Uganda and the second largest city in Uganda after Kampala. The city is divided into 6 boroughs of Kakoba Division, Kamukuzi Division, Nyamitanga Division, Biharwe Division, Kakiika Division, Nyakay ...

. Kazo became part of Kiruhura District when it was split from Mbarara in 2005. In September 2015, Parliament approved the creation of Kazo District from Kiruhura, which went into effect on 1 July 2019.

Government

Kazo District is subdivided into the town council of Kazo, and seven sub-counties: Buremba, Burunga, Engari, Kanoni, Kazo, Nkungu, and Rwemikoma.

Economy

Historically, the economy of Kazo District revolved around the rearing of

Ankole cattle The Ankole is a breed or group of breeds of African cattle, belonging to the broad Sanga cattle grouping of African breeds. It was probably introduced to Uganda between five and seven hundred years ago by nomadic pastoralists from more north ...

by semi-nomadic pastoralists. Nowadays, almost all the land in the district has been privatized as the people have become sedentarized and established permanent homes. The economy has also seen a shift toward the production of food crops. In the 2014 Ugandan census, 89.0% of households reported being engaged in crop growing, while 66.3% reported being engaged in livestock farming. Major crops include beans,

matooke Matoke, locally also known as matooke, amatooke in Buganda (Central Uganda), ekitookye in southwestern Uganda, ekitooke in western Uganda, kamatore in Lugisu (Eastern Uganda), ebitooke in northwestern Tanzania, igitoki in Rwanda, Burundi and b ...

, millet, corn, sweet potatoes and coffee.

Infrastructure

The paved

Nyakahita–Kazo–Kamwenge–Fort Portal Road The Nyakahita–Kazo–Kamwenge–Fort Portal Road is a road in the Western Region of Uganda, connecting the towns of Nyakahita and Kazo in Kiruhura District, Ibanda in Ibanda District, Kamwenge in Kamwenge District, and Fort Portal in Kabarole ...

runs through the district, connecting Kazo to

in the west and to Kiruhura and the

Masaka–Mbarara Road The Masaka–Mbarara Road is a road in the Central and Western Regions of Uganda, connecting the cities of Masaka in Masaka District, Central Region and Mbarara in Mbarara District, Western Region. Location The road starts at Masaka and goes ...

in the south.

References

{{Authority control Kazo District Districts of Uganda 2019 establishments in Uganda States and territories established in 2019