Bukoba CDS  |  Entebbe CDS  |  Homa Bay CDS  |  Kisumu CDS  |  Musoma CDS  |  Publications

Historical Background
Kampala is the capital city of the Republic of Uganda. Its history can be traced back to the 1600s when it was established as the capital of Buganda Kingdom. It served as a political and administrative capital until 1893, when the British declared Uganda a protectorate and transferred the capital to Entebbe. It returned as capital city in 1962 at Uganda's independence.

Kampala means a “hill of Impalas” derived from the Luganda word (Mpala), a type of antelope. These animals were common in Old Kampala.

The first modern urban planning scheme for Kampala was in 1912, covering Nakasero and Old Kampala hills, an area of 56.7 square kilometers with a population of about 2850 people. This was followed by other planning schemes in 1919, 1930, 1951, 1968, 1972 and the latest one in 1994.

Kampala CDS Process
The Kampala CDS overall development objective is to take on the challenge presented by the decentralization policy, where Kampala City as a local authority and its citizens, become initiators, implementers and overseers of development plans geared towards addressing local problems.

The coordination mechanisms in Kampala are evolving towards inclusive teams under the auspices of two chief officers - the Director of City Planning and the Director of Medical Services. The teams are addressing core issues related to the criteria for the community involvement and the challenges facing informal settlements in Kampala.

A Kampala Case Study was undertaken and documented in a City Profile. This profile provided information on the City's background, its economic status in the national context, key urban management challenges, and ongoing initiatives.

The Kampala Profile identified the following as some of the key urban issues facing Kampala:

a) Sanitation and drainage
b) Waste management
c) Income generation schemes
d) Shelter 

Kampala Consultative Meeting
The objective of the meeting was to establish methods to identify suitable areas for piloting a slum development initiative in Kampala through a sensitization and consultative process.

Key stakeholders included council officials, councillors, CBOs, NGOs and the Police Office. The meeting discussed the Kampala Case Study which highlights key urban environmental challenges, current initiatives and hot spots that need rapid intervention. Hotspots include waste management and improving infrastructure in unplanned settlements.

City Consultations in Kampala, Uganda

CDS Action Plans being implemented since end of 2004.

1. Projects under Nakivubo Channel Rehabilitation Programme (NCRP) and Kampala City Council (KCC) include rehabilitation of the channel, roads, and revenue enhancement.
2. Projects under taken by KCC and Local Government Development Programme (LGDP) include anti-malarial drains, refuse collection projects, expansion of the land fill at Kitezi, computerization/Local Area Networks (LAN), construction of Lubaga division offices and street lighting.
3. Other projects funded directly by international agencies include the Ecological Sanitation (Ecosan), Edible Landscape, and the Kampala Urban Sanitation Project (KUSP).
4. KCC is implementing a pilot project on improving sanitation and food production.
5. Equipping the Geographical Information System (GIS) unit to aid in information generation, analysis and coordination.
6. A website has been launched and this is aimed at narrowing the information gap flow between the people and the administration for better service delivery.

Strategies to enhance revenue

1. Privatizing revenue collection
2. Introduction of revenue unit (revenue enhancement and research in revenue potential).
3. Procurement of the services of a revenue enhancement specialist.
4. Direct banking of all property rates and other monies to avoid fraud and forgeries.
5. Linking the revaluation of properties with the GIS so as to make it easy to produce demand notices on time and more accurately and also to use it for physical planning purposes.
6. Carrying out a census on all the taxis operating in Kampala . A quick survey indicated that the council could collect more revenue than it currently raises.
7. The council is undergoing major reforms especially in revenue and traffic sections, for purposes of improving own revenue sources and deal with major traffic jams respectively.
8. The council is in the process of privatizing solid waste management. The public's response has been positive and there has been a marked improvement in the load collected and even the willingness to pay for the services has increased.
9. City environmental and poverty profiling which is being redone, is ongoing.

Challenges to Kampala CDS Implementation

1. Seasonal variations for example actual licenses and graduated tax sometimes drop.
2. Stakeholders interest in participatory planning still low.
3. Dependence on direct tax, which is difficult to collect for example licenses, poll tax.
4. The many uncoordinated players in city management makes gathering information difficult.
5. Funding for CDS action plans is inadequate.