Sub-county leaders in Rakai District are pushing for the creation of a separate local government sub-region to empower them to improve social service delivery to their communities.
Elisa Wangi Ssemanda, the Chairperson of Ddyango Town Council and Patron of 17 LC III Chairpersons in Rakai, says they want the government to grant their district status as a sub-region separate from the Greater Masaka where they are currently clustered.
According to Ssemanda, they jointly petitioned the Office of the President and Ministry of Local Government requesting an alteration of the current boundaries of the Greater Masaka sub-region to declare Rakai a sub-region.
Ssemanda argues that Rakai District is largely lagging far behind in terms of service delivery because every time the central government allocates resources, facilities, and other programs to local governments on basis of sub-regions, Rakai district usually gets the least shares given its geographical location at the edges of the greater Masaka sub-region.
The leaders are optimistic that once granted the status of a separate sub-region, they will directly attract the attention of the central government, which will qualify them to get equal shares like other areas of the country, which will eventually spur development in the area.
To accomplish their desires, Ssemanda explains that they are currently engaging the lower local council leaders right from the village levels, imploring them to support the idea for the good of their communities.
He reveals that they have also set out to start engaging leaders in the neighboring districts of Lwengo and Lyantonde such that they can rally together and form what they propose to be named the southern sub-region.
Samuel Waggwa, the Chairperson for Lwamaggwa Town Council, says that in addition to the other lower local government leaders, they have also presented the idea to the leadership of Kooki cultural institution, seeking that they also endorse and formally support it.
“We are committed to pushing this idea until it catches the attention of the President because it is what we are clamoring for to better our communities,” he noted.
However, Samuel Kaggwa Ssekamwa, the Rakai LCV Chairperson, says that he is not aware of the proposal, saying that neither he nor the district council were consulted about the same and that they don’t approve of the idea.
He suspects that the promoters of the idea are driven by hidden motives, which he says only intend to satisfy the selfish interests of a few individuals, whom he was hesitant to name.
Ssekamwa refutes the notion of targeting to solve challenges of social service delivery, explaining that the government’s resources and programs are allocated based on districts as decentralized governance structures, describing the demand for sub-regions as unfounded.
