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PRESSURE ON RESOURCES: People line up for water, a resource that is increasing becoming harder to get as the population grows |
It is bad news for Ugandan women. The 2002 census report indicates that for every 1,000 women there is a shortfall of 40 men, writes Charles Wendo
Luweero LC 5 Chairman Abdu Nadduli, Kampala Mayor Ssebaana Kizito and their allies in the fill-the-earth campaign are not sowing seeds on hard rock. Ugandans made about 1.2 million babies during 2002, according to estimates from the Population and Housing Census.
The census report dated November 2002, says this number is high but not surprising because Uganda has five million women of childbearing age, most of them having sex without any efforts to prevent pregnancy. At this rate, says the report, Uganda�s population will swell to 54 million by the year 2025.
Population experts consider this an own goal for Uganda, which is already the most crowded country in East Africa. The census report dated November 2002, puts Uganda�s population density at 126 persons per square kilometre, a drastic increase from 85 a decade ago. This makes Uganda more than twice as crowded as Kenya, Tanzania and Sudan.
Moreover, Uganda�s population is already growing much faster than the other East African countries. This means Ugandans, who are already leading their neighbours in the race to fill the earth, are even widening their lead. This is a recipe for land wrangles, food shortage and a polluted environment.
The most crowded region is eastern Uganda, while the north is the most sparsely populated. Kampala has the highest population density, with 7,387 people per square kilometre. This is understandable because the entire Kampala population is urban.
Among the other districts, which have predominantly rural populations, Jinja is the most crowded, with 590 people per square kilometre. Mbale follows closely, with 586. Wakiso, which has a wider urban portion than Jinja and Mbale, follows with 513. The rest of the districts have population densities below 400 people per square kilometre.
Kabale district, the usual suspec!
t, is no
t that bad. It is the 11th most crowded, after Kampala, Jinja, Mbale, Wakiso, Tororo, Pallisa, Iganga, Kisoro, Mayuge and Busia districts in that order.
The least crowded district is Moroto, with 27 people per square kilometre. This is followed by Nakapiripirit with 27, Kitgum 29, Nakasongola 38, Gulu 41, Pader 45, and Kotido 45. Other districts with population densities below 100 are Masindi, Kiboga, Sembabule, Kalangala, Katakwi, Luweero, Kyenjojo, Hoima and Kaberemaido in ascending order.
The report raises a fresh cause of concern for women. In 1969 for every 1,000 females there were 1009 males. But since then men have become more and more scarce. Now for every 1,000 females there are only 960 men. Who knows where it will be in 50 years?
Despite a dramatic population growth, the size of families has remained stable over the last 40 years. This implies that as new children are born, some members of the household split and go on their own. The average number of people per household is 4.7, which is not significantly different from 1991, says the report. However, there is a wide variation among districts. For instance in Pader district there is an average of nine people per household whereas in the figure for Kalangala is 2.5. Generally household sizes tend to be largest in northern Uganda and lowest in Central Uganda.
From the report, it is clear that the movement of people from villages to towns has not been massive enough to tilt the balance between rural and urban populations. Those who live in villages make up 88% of the population, while only 12% live in gazetted towns. Thus any development or political programme that targets urban areas reaches only a minority.
Kampala alone has 41% of Uganda�s urban population, with a total of 1.2 million people. This figure has caused controversy. Kampala Mayor, Ssebana Kizito, disregarded the results, saying his city had a much bigger population than 1.2 million.
However, the report explains that many of the peopl!
e seen i
n Kampala during the day spend their nights outside the city, where they were enumerated.
The second most populated urban centre is Gulu, with 113,144 people. Apparently, this is because the war has forced large numbers of people to abandon their villages and settle in the town. Lira comes third, with 89,871 and Jinja closely follows with 86,520. Other towns with more than 50,000 people are Mbale, Mbarara, Masaka, Entebbe, Kasese and Njeru in descending order.
Many of the people who spend their day in Jinja commute daily from Njeru.
This could explain the surprise that Jinja is not the second most populated town after Kampala. But the Jinja Mayor, unlike his Kampala counterpart, has not complained.
Published on: Tuesday, 14th January, 2003 |
