Godfrey Bemanyisa, the Masaka City Clerk, says that the current arrangement is inconveniencing them hence the need to put all administration offices under one building to ease coordination of services and staff.
Masaka City Council authorities are hunting for Shillings 6billion to facilitate the construction of appropriate administrative headquarters.
Masaka is among the seven
new cities inaugurated in July 2020 after the government approved their elevation from
municipality status. Apparently, the city is operating its administration offices
from scattered buildings formerly occupied by Masaka Municipal council.
Godfrey
Bemanyisa, the Masaka City Clerk,
says that the current arrangement is inconveniencing them hence the need
to put all administration
offices under one building to ease coordination of services and staff.
Bemanyisa says that they have considered the idea of constructing
a befitting city headquarters as a lasting solution to the challenge of
inadequate office space, which
even affected the previous leadership.
According to him, the city
technical teams are working on a draft structural plan for the proposed
headquarters, whose construction they intend to undertake in phases.
Bemanyisa explains that they estimate the
construction to cost at least Shillings 6
billion, which they anticipate raising
through local revenues and grants from the central government and donors.
//Cue in: “we want to have…….
Cue out; ……construct
in phases.”//
Florence Namayanja, the Masaka City Mayor
indicates that they are doing all it takes to give the urban local council a
new face befitting its
status, adding that they are going to reach out to different stakeholders for
financial support that will complement the city's budget.
According to Namayanja, some of the premises
they inherited from the former municipality are in bad shape after spending
many years without getting any major facelift, adding that they have considered the construction of
headquarters among the priorities of their work plan for the next financial
year.
Dr. Abed
Bwanika, the Kimanya-Kabonera division
member of parliament has advised the city leadership to consider
the idea of expanding from the current construction site of the Masaka district
local government, which is now required to shift their headquarters outside the
boundaries of the city.
