Keypoints:
- Nakasongola proposed for government functions
- Kampala congestion drives renewed debate
- Full capital move needs constitutional change
UGANDAN officials have revived proposals to shift some political and administrative functions from congested Kampala to Nakasongola, reopening a long-running debate over whether the country’s rapidly expanding commercial centre should continue to carry the full weight of national government.
The proposal is gaining renewed attention after State Minister for Urban Development Margaret Muhanga argued that Nakasongola should be reconsidered as a planned administrative centre. Kampala, however, remains Uganda’s capital in law, and moving ministries, agencies or even Parliament would not by itself alter that constitutional status.
Why Nakasongola is back in focus
Nakasongola already occupies an important place in Uganda’s long-term development strategy. Uganda Vision 2040 identifies it as one of five strategic cities, alongside Hoima, Fort Portal, Moroto and Jinja, with Nakasongola envisaged primarily as an industrial city.
That designation does not make it a future capital, but it gives the district a planning foundation that supporters of relocation can point to. Vision 2040 also acknowledges the pressure created by concentrating economic and administrative activity in Kampala and envisages stronger regional and strategic cities to spread development more widely.
Muhanga’s intervention has therefore revived an older question rather than introduced an entirely new concept: should Uganda continue concentrating both political power and commercial activity in Kampala, or gradually separate the two?
Kampala’s congestion raises pressure
Kampala’s transport problems are central to the argument. The city continues to face severe congestion, limited road capacity and rising demand for public transport as the wider metropolitan population expands.
The Kampala Capital City Authority’s current five-year strategy puts shorter travel times, better traffic management and stronger mass public transport among its key objectives. It envisages a larger role for bus rapid transit and commuter rail while expanding paved roads and improving mobility across the capital.
KCCA is also pursuing tighter regulation of taxis, boda-bodas and other public transport operators as part of efforts to make Kampala’s transport system more orderly.
These investments underline the main counterargument to relocation: that Kampala’s problems may require deeper infrastructure reform rather than the movement of government institutions.
Parliament raised idea before
The Nakasongola option has surfaced in Parliament before.
In December 2024, MPs discussing Uganda’s Fourth National Development Plan proposed moving some government functions away from Kampala as part of a decongestion strategy.
John Musila, then MP for Bubulo East County, suggested that Kampala could concentrate on its economic role while political and administrative institutions shifted elsewhere. He specifically proposed moving Parliament to a new city such as Nakasongola.
The discussion established a distinction that remains crucial today. Uganda could decentralise major government functions without immediately changing the legal status of Kampala as the national capital.
Constitution sets higher hurdle
A formal transfer of the capital would require a separate constitutional process.
Article 5(4) of Uganda’s Constitution states that Kampala, located in Buganda, ‘shall be the capital city for Uganda’. The Kampala Capital City Act also recognises Kampala as the national capital.
Because Article 5(4) is not among the provisions subject to the special procedures set out in Articles 260 and 261, an amendment would fall under Article 262. That provision requires support from at least two-thirds of all MPs at both the second and third readings.
That means building government offices in Nakasongola or relocating individual institutions would be very different from formally replacing Kampala as Uganda’s capital.
Kampala leadership pushes back
The proposal is already facing opposition from Kampala’s leadership.
Lord Mayor Ronald Balimwezo has argued that any fundamental change involving the capital should follow proper legal procedures and broad public consultation. His alternative is greater investment in Kampala, including better planning and expanded public transport.
KCCA’s 2025/26–2029/30 strategic plan is valued at UGX11.9trn and includes transport, infrastructure and urban-planning projects intended to improve the city’s resilience and functionality.
Uganda is also investing beyond Kampala. The country’s Standard Gauge Railway programme is intended to strengthen connections towards Kenya and lower transport costs, while the Kiira Vehicle Plant in Jinja is expanding domestic bus manufacturing capacity.
Those projects do not resolve the capital debate, but they show that Uganda is already spending heavily on the transport and industrial systems that will shape future urban growth.
What happens next?
For now, Nakasongola is better understood as a possible future political or administrative centre than as Uganda’s confirmed next capital.
Any large-scale move would require far more than offices. Housing, roads, electricity, water, telecommunications, schools, healthcare and reliable transport would all be needed to support thousands of civil servants and their families.
Financing would also be a major consideration. Developing a new administrative centre while continuing to upgrade Kampala could place significant demands on public finances unless the process were phased over many years.
The broader debate is therefore about more than traffic. Uganda is confronting a strategic question over whether political authority, administrative machinery and commercial activity should remain concentrated in one metropolitan centre.
For Kampala, the issue is whether infrastructure investment can keep pace with continued growth. For Nakasongola, the debate opens the possibility that a district already marked for strategic development could assume a much larger role in how Uganda is governed.
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