Background

Before 1974 the present Luwero District was part of the former East Mengo District with its headquarters at Bombo. In 1974 the East Mengo District was split up into two districts namely Mukono with its headquarters in Mukono town and Luwero with its headquarters at Luwero town. By that time the district was composed of four counties namely Buluri, Nakaseke, Katikamu and Bamunanika. 

In line with the Decentralization Policy (1993) objectives, Buluri County was curved out of Luwero in 1997 and given a district status as Nakasongola District.  Further, in July 2005, Nakaseke County was given a district status leaving the mother district with two counties, that is, Bamunanika and Katikamu.

Location and Area

The district lies north of Kampala, between latitude 2⁰ north of the Equator and East between 32⁰ and 33⁰.  The total area of Luwero district is approximately 2577.49 Sq. kilometres.  It is bordered by Mukono and Wakiso Districts in the South, Nakaseke in the West, Nakasongola in the North and in the East is Kayunga District.

Topography

The present topography is as a result of a number of ancient denudation processes of the rock systems leaving a series of old erosion level throughout the district.  In terms of altitude most of the district ranges between 1,219 and 1,524 meters above sea level.  The landscape is generally made up of elevated and dissected plateau consisting of a series of flat-topped hills and intervening valleys.

Climate and Temperature

Rainfall is well distributed throughout the year, with an annual average 1,300mm.  The mean annual maximum temperature falls between 27.5^oC and30^o C, whereas the mean annual minimum temperature is between 15^o C and 17.5^o C.

Vegetation and Soils

Three quarters of the district is covered with savannah. The soils are generally red sandy loam. The southern part of the district is relatively fertile and can support all kinds of crops. In the northern areas (Kamira and Butuntumula and parts of Kikyusa Sub-counties) some parts developed from sandy loam soils and fertility is low.

 

Land Use

In drier areas cattle farming is the dominant occupation. A wide range of food crops is grown in the district as well as cash crops. The district is predominantly rural, where farming is the main occupation especially among women.

In the northern area, there is mainly cassava, sweet potatoes, maize and bananas. In the southern and central, there are bananas, potatoes, cassava, beans, groundnuts, horticulture crops (like tomatoes, cabbages and greens), and upland rice as food crops. Cash crops for the southern and central region are coffee, bananas, and the horticultural crops mainly water melons, passion fruits, tomatoes, cabbages and vegetables whereas pineapple growing is predominant in most parts of northern parts of the district.

Political and Administrative Structure

For governance purposes, Luwero district is divided into ten sub-counties and three Town councils namely Luwero, Wobulenzi and Bombo.  The district is composed of 91 parishes and 594 villages as indicated in Table 1.1 below.  The district headquarters are in Luwero Town Council, a road distance of about 64 km along the Kampala – Gulu Highway. The District Local Government has two arms namely political which is headed by the District Chairperson and technical headed by Chief Administrative Officer. The major responsibility of the political arm is policy formulation and monitoring of service delivery, whereas the technical arm implements government policies and programmes.