MAYUGE DISTRICT

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
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Welcome to Mayuge District

 

 

 

Mayuge District was established by an act of parliament in 2000 and it’s located in the eastern region of Uganda. The headquarters are situated in Mayuge Town council 120km from Kampala the capital city and 40km from Jinja. It’s bordered by Iganga in the north Jinja in the west, Bugiri in the east and Lake Victoria in the south which is shared by Mukono, district, Bugiri, Mayuge itself and Jinja city.

 

 

  

Relief Features and Climate:

Geology and Topography
Mayuge District is characterized by extensive undulating lowlands, isolated hills and pediments of approximately 115m with linear and convex slopes between 2 and 8%.
There are flat valley bottoms with slopes less than 2%. The general surface slopes range from 120m in the south-west near Lake Victoria t5o 100m in the North. The District is sculptured into rolling landscape with gentle slopes and swallows valleys (occupied by papyrus swamps) of amplitude far less than 115m and large portion of ridges/hilltops, so much so that lot of arable land is available on hill tops, slopes and the valleys and it is where most of socio-economic activities take place.
The District has along shoreline of Lake Victoria in the south with six islands forming Jaguzi Sub County. The Islands are mainly characterised by sand beaches, granitic and lateritic rock formations. All islands have suffered massive deforestation both in the lakeshores and on the hills due to various human activities

 

 Administrative structure 

Mayuge district is sub divided into 12 Subcounties and Four town council namely: - Baitambogwe, Buwaya, Malongo, Kigandalo, Imanyiro, Kityerera, Bukatube, Mpungwe, Bukabooli, Jagusi, Wairasa, Busakira and Mayuge, Magamaga, Bugadde and Bwondha Town councils. These Lower Local Governments form 3 constituencies i.e. Bunya East which is composed of Kigandalo, Bukabooli, Mpungwe and Buwaya sub counties, Bunya south which is composed of Malongo, Jagusi, Busakira and Kityerera while Bunya west is composed of Imanyiro, Bukatube, Wairasa Mayuge town council and Baitambogwe sub counties. There are 84 parishes and 493 villages as shown in the table below:

VISION:

A prosperous mayuge with a well developed socio-economic infrastructure, vibrant private sector, sustainable production and productivity and people enjoying high standard of living.

 

Climate
The majority parts of Mayuge District lies within the Lake Victoria Climatic Zone, with little seasonal variation in temperature, humidity, and winds throughout the year. The District’s climate is related to its situation, elevation, the major air currents and the occurrence of a large mass of water (Lake Victoria) within the District.

Soils
The largest part of the District is underlain by un-differential gneisses formerly seen as part of basement complex. Rhodi, Ferralitic and Nitisol are the predominant soil types with patches of Epi/Endo petricplinthsols superimposed on the Nitsols in isolated and very small areas. This soil type is of relatively high to moderate fertility, they are permeable, with a stable structure, and low erodibility, hence less prone top erosion.
Along the shores of Lake Victoria, the soils are mainly Hydromorphic. These are associated with Buganda Surface and Kabira Catena characterised by low to medium fertility. The Northern and Eastern parts are dominated by quartzite and laterites whose parent rock is the Buganda Catena, the remaining part being occupied by Lake sand and Granitic Rocks.
Generally, all soil types in Mayuge District are of moderate stable structure, low in erodibility and high fertility, with ability to support a wide range of activities such as settlement, farming and forest establishment.
However, due to population explosion coupled with poor agronomy practices that range from over farming, monoculture, and deforestation among others, these formerly rich fertile soils have been depleted of natural fertility and rendered less productive than in the past.
Land Tenure and Use
The land in Mayuge is owned under a customary freehold system where pieces of land are owned in perpetuity and hence the owner is able to sell off any of his/her piece of land at wish. Through generation of slicing and sharing of family land and later exacerbated by emergence of land Markets, where thousands of land pieces have changed hands through sale, land fragmentation has occurred which has severely pressed limit on productivity.
Due to fertile soils and favourable climate, the District has great agricultural potential. However, the fact that open water and forest reserves occupy an estimated 87% of the total surface area of the District, significant pressure has been exerted on the natural environment by the increasing population numbers. Most of the Agriculture in the District is done on small scale due to small land holding capacity per household. Common crops grown are cane, coffee, rice, maize, cassava, sweet potatoes, gnuts, tomatoes, cabbages beans and trees that has currently picked.
Fishing is yet another high-value activity practiced in the District. The activity is the largest income earnerin the District, accounting for approximat3ely 63%. In 2013, estimated 3000 people were engaged in commercial fishing in the District. The fish caught from lake Victoria include; Nile perch, Tilapia, Rargentae (Mukene), clarias (cat fish), protopterus (lung fish).
In recent times, bee keeping for production of honey is becoming an accepted and practiced method of earning income in the District.