Namutumba Residents Warned Against Burials in Towns

What the report says

State Minister for Housing Persis Namuganza has called on urban authorities in Namutumba and other town areas to stop burials within town boundaries, saying residents should use gazetted cemeteries or consider cremation. According to Nile Post, she made the remarks during World Town Planning Day celebrations held in Namutumba on Friday, November 6, ahead of the annual observance on November 8.

Namuganza said the practice is discouraged under Uganda’s physical planning rules and urged town clerks, chief administrative officers and security agencies to enforce the regulations while sensitising the public. She also said the Ministry of Lands plans to develop a modern roundabout in Namutumba Town Council, which she described as part of a wider set of urban development works, with the district among 40 urban centres expected to benefit from the planning initiative.

The event also highlighted broader concerns about urban planning capacity. The president of the Professional Physical Planners Association of Uganda said planners face funding and staffing limits, while Namutumba Chief Administrative Officer Jessica Nsogya called for a clock at the proposed roundabout as a lasting marker of the celebrations. She also said the district had issued 4,000 customary land ownership certificates this year.

Bukono Constituency MP Joel Azalwa questioned whether the district’s town councils are following approved physical plans, citing weak drainage and limited enforcement. The report places the burial warning within a wider discussion about orderly growth, land administration and infrastructure management in fast-developing Ugandan urban centres.