Kasese MDF Members inducted, a seven member committee elected

By Alex Baluku

The Government of Uganda has sounded the need to capture the positive impacts of urbanization, and seeks to devise a strategy to enhance competitiveness of urban sector in order to harness its potential as a driver of economic growth.

And to realize this growth, the government through the ministry of Lands, housing and urban development in collaboration with its development partners “Cities Alliance”, the World Bank and the UN Habitat spearheaded the formation of Municipal Development Forums in Kabale, Mbale, Mbarara, Jinja and Arua in 2010 and later rolled out the same program in other urban authorities including Kasese Municipality.

Now, On Monday 25^th 2021, representatives from the different sectors in Kasese Municipality converged at Kasese Municipal hall and elected the Municipal Forum with Farouk Kibaba, the Executive Director for Great Lakes Peace Centre as the President, who will be deputized by Jane Kamashamba.

Others on the committee include Godfrey Kule Kiwede as the General Secretary, Alex Baluku of Messiah Radio who represents journalists as the forum’s Mobiliser while Saimon Bikeke, a representative of the street dwellers as the Publicity Secretary. Allan Tusiime was elected as the Treasurer while one person representing the people living with disabilities and those with HIV/ AIDS was also brought on board.

The Municipal Development Forums are currently established in 26 Urban Authorities and would be rolled out to all Urban Authorities in Uganda.

These platforms are established at the Municipal level for all stakeholders in the urban sector including the urban poor, local government, service providers, private sector and other stakeholders to meet regularly to exchange views, debate priorities and agree on common actions on matters concerning the urban sector for improved service delivery.

Facilitating at the training and induction exercise of all members on the Forum, the Urban Planner from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mr. Arthur Abigaba explained that the theme of the Municipal Development Forums is, “Sustainable Urbanization, a collective responsibility,”  challenging the members to work towards achieving the forum’s aims and objectives through dialogue and participation.

The Urban Planner also listed a number of urban concerns that needs to be addressed by MDFs including, building orderly towns, improving urban services, Acessing Urban land, keeping towns clean campaign, ensuring healthy urban environments, providing decent and affordable housing, ensuring vibrant and competitive urban economy and reducing urban poverty and un employment among others.

Officiating at the closure of the training, the Kasese Municipality Deputy Mayor, Rabson Mupango asked the Forum’s members to effectively carry out their monitoring role that will usher in proper accountability amongst the leaders.