Physical setting

Jinja is a major commercial and industrial centre and the second largest city in Uganda (Zoned Economic Development Area). The city is the centre of Jinja district and the capital of the Kingdom of Busoga (Njeru, 2007).

Jinja was originally a fishing village strategically located on trade routes. It was officially started as a township on June 26, 1906 by the British as the administrative hub of the Busoga region. The construction of the Ugandan Railway in the early 1900s linked Jinja with Kisumu, Kenya, facilitating the expansion and international trading of cotton and sugar. A formal street pattern for the city centre was established in 1906. Catholic, English-speaking Indians from the former Portuguese colony of Goa on the west coast of india began to arrive in 1910, changing the social and architectural makeup of Jinja. (Njeru, 2007)

The construction of the Owen Falls (later Nalubaale) Dam and consequent energy subsidies in the middle of the 20th century initiated the town’s transition from a trade hub to an industrial centre. Jinja was officially declared a municipality in 1957 (Wagner, 2010). New industries that emerged during this period created jobs for almost 50,000 people and range from textile and plywood manufacturing to copper smelting and steel rolling (Wagner, 2010). Many of these industries were owned by Indians and collectively initiated a period of economic growth from 1954 to 1970 (Njeru, 2007). Political unrest beginning in the early 1970s with idi Amin’s expulsion of Asians and seizing of foreign companies and Obote’s electricity subsidizes reversed the preceding economic development. industrial activity fell by 86 percent and employment by 70 percent by 1985 (Wagner, 2010). The buildings and industries that the Indians abandoned were left to deteriorate. Some of the indians have returned in later years, many of whom opened businesses and contributed to a new, diversified economy (Njeru, 2007).

The economy and population of Jinja is returning with diversification into other activities, including commerce, service and tourism (Njeru, 2007). Population has grown from 65,000 in 1991(Wagner, 2010) to more than 200,000 people in 2010. High commuting causes a daily flux of population between 212,00 and 230,000 during the day and 80,000 to 100,000 at night (ACTogether and NSDFU, 2010).

[Owen dam] http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/19783190.jpg 4