Masaka City authorities are struggling to find adequate office space for the new leadership and technical departments.
Masaka is among the seven newly created cities that started their operations in July last year after it was elevated from a municipality status.
However, the new local urban council is challenged with a lack of enough office space for both the political leadership and technical departments.
The city is currently operating from the premises previously occupied by the former Masaka Municipal Council, some of which are appalling after spending years without repairs.
Some of the affected offices include the City Council Chambers, the Education and Health Departments that are housed in visibly very old buildings, with cracked ceilings walls, whose windows are broken.
Florence Namayanja, the Masaka City Mayor says that besides the limited space, much of the available office spaces are not befitting of the urban council. She adds that the two city divisions of Nyendo-Mukungwe and Kimanya-Kabonera are equally affected by lack of space.
According to Namayanja, she is currently working from home, until they find resources to secure an ample organized space that can host them.
She adds that they also lack the required equipment that includes office stationery and furniture to enable them to perform effectively.
For several years, offices of the Masaka Municipality and council chambers have been operating from an old building that previously belonged to the departed Asians, whose ownership is currently under dispute.
Some of the technical departments have been operating from the former Bank of Baroda building which was later acquired by the Nyendo-Ssenyange division.
But Namayanja argues that having the city offices scattered in different locations affects the efficiency of staff and effective coordination between departments.
Jackie Kemigisha, the Principal Urban Inspector at the Ministry of Local Government says they are cognizant of some of the challenges the new cities are facing, however advising the leaders to continue operating under the arrangement of their previous status until government allocates them finances in the coming financial year.
According to her, financing of the new urban local governments was held back by the court case which had been filed to challenge operationalization of these cities, however, indicating that with the inauguration of the substantive leaders, the challenges will be addressed henceforth.
