Koboko Municipal Council

Koboko Municipality

Koboko Municipality which is located in Koboko District, West Nile sub region, with a population of about 238,000 people. The Municipality is headed by a Mayor as the political leader and a Town Clerk, as the technical head and the accounting officer. It operates under the local government structure with various departments at the Municipal level and divisions, wards, and cells, at the lower levels.

Koboko Municipal Council is located in the Northern region, in West Nile Sub-region of Uganda. The Municipality started on 1st July 2016 as created by an Act of Parliament among the nineteen new formed Municipalities. Koboko Municipal Council is the Administrative and Commercial headquarters of Koboko District Local Government. It is bordered by Midia Sub-County in the North, Dranya Sub-County in the South, Lobule Sub-county in the East and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the West. The Municipality is 574 Kilometers from Kampala the Capital City of Uganda and exactly 19 Kilometers from Oraba the border town of Uganda with South Sudan and 3 kilometers from Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) boarder. The Municipality has a land area of 21 square kilometers and stands at latitude 36.6’N and longitude 30’58’E.

Koboko Municipal Council is a supreme body Politically headed by His Worship the Mayor, whose Council comprises of 24 members sitting once in two months making 6 in a year, with extra ordinary meetings normally organized to handle emergency issues, and technically headed by Town Clerk whose Administration is run through Departments. The Municipal Council is chaired by the Municipal Speaker who is elected by council from among members of the Council; in his absence the Deputy Speaker chairs the Council. Koboko Municipality comprises of one constituency and has a Member of Parliament to represent the interests of people of Koboko Municipality in the Parliament of Republic of Uganda, three divisions headed politically by Division LC III Chairpersons and technically by headed by Senior Assistant town Clerks, 10 wards (LCIIs) and 36 cells (LCIs).

History

Koboko Municipality is among the Towns that became prominent due to trade booms in the area where it was a commercial centre and development was taking place at a very fast rate, by 1974 it was elevated to Town Council up to 1979 and in this period it was the headquarters of the then North Nile District. By 1979 due to the war that removed President Iddi Amin Government there was a lot of destruction that brought all development activities to halt and the existing development destroyed and the Town Council ceased and it became an abandoned trading centre. Throughout the 1980s Koboko had virtually ceased to exist as an urban Centre as people were majorly in exile until 1986 when people started to return from exile to resettle and development process restarted to took root again on and eventually by 1990 it became a town board.

As economic growth and development become prominent and population increased, the Government on 2nd December 1996 elevated Koboko Town Board to an autonomous Town Council regaining its previous status. The Town Council status led to the improved physical planning of the town and orderly development was witnessed as business boomed due to increased border trade with South Sudan and this increased development led to the quest for new status of Municipality. Through the concerted efforts from various stakeholders, Koboko Town Council with inclusion of parishes and peri-urban villages from surrounding sub-counties of Midia, Dranya and Lobule was in August 2015 elevated to Municipal Council.

This Town is always fairly populated with Sudanese and Congolese due to the high influx of refugees that have self-settled in Koboko Municipal Council to conduct business, an impact that has seen this town attain the growth and development that led to elevation to new status.

Social Cultural Setup

The Koboko Municipal council has multi cultures due to its position as a commercial centre of Koboko District and being strategic route to South Sudan and DRC. Though it is mainly dominated by Kakwa tribe, it has a number of other tribes living in harmony including the business oriented Indian community and other Investors. The major languages used in the Municipality are Kakwa, Lugbara, Kiswahili, Arabic, and English to small extent Luganda, Luo and Lingala among other languages.

More Information Click Here....

Economic Activities

There are many economic activities in the Municipal Council. The major ones include the following;

Trade in general merchandise, agricultural produce, livestock; Transport business in goods and services; Subsistence Agriculture is being practiced in the outskirts of the Urban Council; Trade in service industry and hospitality business (Garages, Workshops, Saloons, Hotel/Restaurants, Eating Houses); Some few entertainment and recreational centres with more yet to be desired; Financial services like Banks, Micro Deposit Institutions (MDI), Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCOs) and other VSLAs and Real estate business is a rapidly growing sector in the Municipality.

More Information Click Here....