Masaka tests decentralisation on roads, wards and water, not new offices

What the report says

Watchdog Uganda reports that in Masaka, local decentralisation is being judged by visible services rather than by newly built administrative offices. The story focuses on Kyanamukaka Town Council, where leaders say progress is being measured through roads, water, health care, classrooms and youth livelihoods. The council now operates from premises on six acres donated by former Vice-President Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi, but officials argue that residents care more about whether services are reaching communities.

Mayor Zaina Nakidde said the council has secured a maternity ward with delivery equipment from Rotary Club, planned six classrooms at COP Primary School in Zzimwe Ward, expanded water access to Buyinja and Zzimwe, and improved roads on the Bukunda and Kamuzinda routes. The article also says 15 young people trained at the Presidential Industrial Hub in Ndegeya, while coffee and passion-fruit projects have been supported for jobs and women.

District Chairman John Kakande linked decentralisation to funding and accountability, saying local revenue has fallen sharply even as service demands grow. He said the district’s ranking improved, bringing additional road funding, and credited several political figures for road and headquarters projects. He also raised concerns about alleged land losses, drug shortages at Kyanamukaka Health Centre III, and forest loss and land grabbing in parts of the district.

The piece places Masaka within Uganda’s wider decentralisation system, noting that the policy is meant to bring authority and services closer to citizens. Its broader point is that offices alone do not prove success; the real test is whether communities receive functioning schools, medicines, water, roads and economic opportunities.