Kira Town

Kira Kira Municipality
Kira Location in Uganda
Coordinates:
Country	Uganda
Region	Central Region
District	Wakiso District
Parliamentary Constituency	Kyaddondo East
Government
• Mayor	Julius Mutebi
• Member of Parliament	Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda
Area
• Total	38.16 sq mi (98.83 km2)
Elevation	3,900 ft (1,190 m)
Population (2014 Census)
• Total	313,761
• Density	4,712/sq mi (1,819.3/km2)

Kira Town, a municipality in the Wakiso District of the Central Region of Uganda, is the country's second-largest city by population. It is administered by the Kira Town Council, an urban local government.

Location

Kira Town is bordered by Gayaza to the north, Mukono to the east, Lake Victoria to the south, Kampala to the west, and Kasangati to the north-west. The town is approximately 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) 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 98 square kilometres (24,000 acres) in size.

Administration

Kira Town is divided into six administrative parishes. These are:

2

The political head of the town is the mayor. The supreme policy-making organ is the Town Council, composed of 24 elected councillors.

Population

Kira Town is the largest town council (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 313,761.

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, an 894 hectares (2,210 acres) business development park developed by the Uganda Investment Authority at a cost of about US$180 million (about UGX:470.5 billion), is located at Namanve in Bweyogerere Ward in extreme southeastern Kira Town.

Sites of interest

Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs at Namugongo

Main article: Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs

The Catholic Basilica of the Uganda Martyrs has been built at Namugongo in Kyaliwajjala Ward, where the majority of the 22 Catholic Uganda Martyrs (now Saints) were burned alive on the orders of Ssekabaka Mwanga II in the late 19th century. An Anglican shrine, administered by the Church of Uganda, is about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) east of the basilica, at the site where another group of martyrs were murdered for their beliefs.

Kabaka's Palace at Kireka

Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II and the Nnabagereka of Buganda, Sylvia Nagginda, maintain a palace on Kireka Hill, in Kireka Ward.

Mandela National Stadium

Main article: National Stadium (Uganda)

Mandela National Stadium 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

Main article: Kampala Northern Bypass Highway

The Kampala Northern Bypass Highway, 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 megawatt substation in the Nsasa neighborhood of Kira Town, at a cost of US$7 million (UGX:24 billion). This substation is expected to stabilise the electricity grid and reduce power losses in this fast-growing urban area.

Other public health issues

The Public Health Department of Kira Town 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 25 acres (10 ha). The facilities can accommodate approximately 450 students. The new college cost approximately UGX:8 billion to build.

In 2011, St. Augustine International University (SAIU), a private, multi-campus university, received a provisional license from the Uganda National Council for Higher Education. 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 - Professor, accountant, entrepreneur, and academic administrator, is a native son. Vice chancellor of Muteesa I Royal University.
• Hakim Sendagire - Professor, physician, microbiologist, biochemist, and academic administrator. Dean of Habib Medical School.

Photos

• Photo of Mandela National Stadium
• Photo of Kampala Northern Bypass Highway

External links

• About The Kampala Northern Bypass Highway
• Ssemujju setting the pace in contest for new Kira municipality