The Kabarole District Council has passed a motion seeking to divide Burahya County into three parliamentary constituencies.
The resolution was adopted on Thursday during a council sitting at the district headquarters in Kitumba, Fort Portal City.
Currently, Burahya is the district’s only constituency, with a population of 230,368 according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census.
The motion, moved by John Amanyire Kasweta, councilor for Hakibale Sub-county, and seconded by Gideon Ruta Bujara of Kasenda Sub-county and Grace Ahumuza, the district female youth councilor, cites legal backing from Article 63 of the Constitution on constituency demarcation, Article 176 on decentralization, and Section 7 of the Local Governments Act.
Amanyire explained that creating new constituencies would bring services closer to residents, strengthen parliamentary representation, and increase development funding for projects such as roads, schools, water sources, and agricultural initiatives.
District Vice Chairperson Stella Kyorampe added that smaller constituencies would ease leaders’ workloads, enhance oversight, and improve citizen participation in government programs.
The council’s resolution will now be forwarded to Parliament, the Ministry of Local Government, and the Electoral Commission for consideration.
However, the proposal comes amid a government ban on creating new administrative units, implemented in April 2021, which covers districts, cities, municipalities, town councils, and sub-counties.
Despite repeated calls to lift the ban, the Ministry of Finance reiterated in early 2025 that no new units would be operationalized due to limited funding and the need to first support the ten cities created in July 2020.
END