Katwe
Encyclopedia
Location
Katwe, located in Makindye DivisionMakindye Division
Makindye Division is one of the divisions that makes up the city of Kampala, Uganda. The city's five divisions are:* Kampala Central Division* Kawempe Division* Lubaga Division* Makindye Division* Nakawa Division-Location:...
, is bordered by Nakasero
Nakasero
Nakasero is the hill where the central business district of Kampala is located. Kampala is Uganda's capital and largest city.-Location:Nakasero is bordered by Mulago to the north, Makerere to the northwest, Old Kampala to the west, Namirembe and Mengo to the southwest, Nsambya to the south, Kibuli...
to the north, Nsambya
Nsambya
-Location:Nsambya is located approximately south-southeast of the central business district of Kampala, along the road to Ggaba, a suburb of the city. The coordinates of Nsambya Hill are: 00 17 57N, 32 35 17E.-Landmarks:The landmarks on Nsambya Hill include:...
to the east, Kibuye
Kibuye, Uganda
-Location:Kibuye is bordered by Katwe to the north, Nsambya to the east, Makindye to the south, Ndeeba to the west and Mengo to the northwest. This location is approximately , by road, from the Kampala's central business district...
and Makindye
Makindye
Makindye is a hill in Kampala, Uganda's largest city and capital. Makindye is also the seat of Makindye Division, one of the five administrative zones of the city of Kampala.The other four divisions are:* Kampala Central Division* Nakawa Division...
to the southeast, Ndeeba
Ndeeba
-Location:Ndeeba is located on the southwestern edge of the city of Kampala. It is bordered by Mengo to the north, Katwe to the northeast, Kibuye to the east, Makindye and Najjanankumbi to the southeast, Kabowa to the south, Mutundwe to the west and Lubaga to the northwest...
to the south and Mengo
Mengo, Uganda
Mengo is a hill in Lubaga Division, Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city.-Location:Mengo is bordered by Kampala Hill to the north, Nsambya Hill to the east, Kibuye to the southeast, Ndeeba to the south, Lubaga Hill to the west and Namirembe Hill to the northwest. The coordinates of Mengo Hill...
to the west. The road distance between Kampala's central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
and Katwe is approximately 3 kilometres (1.9 mi). The coordinates of Ndeeba are: 00 18 00N, 32 34 36E (Latitude:0.3000; Longitude:32.5765).
Overview
At the time of Uganda's Independence from BritainUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1962, Katwe was a center of African ingenuity, where artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s, craftsmen and technician
Technician
A technician is a worker in a field of technology who is proficient in the relevant skills and techniques, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles. Experienced technicians in a specific tool domain typically have intermediate understanding of theory and expert...
s repaired imported electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
, automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
s, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
s, refrigerator
Refrigerator
A refrigerator is a common household appliance that consists of a thermally insulated compartment and a heat pump that transfers heat from the inside of the fridge to its external environment so that the inside of the fridge is cooled to a temperature below the ambient temperature of the room...
s and all kinds of appliance
Appliance
Appliance may refer to:* Home appliance, household machines, using electricity or some other energy input** Small appliances** Major appliances...
s. The more ingenious of these craftsmen would improvise and "manufacture" imitations of the original articles. The Baganda
Baganda
The Ganda are an ethnic group native to Buganda, a subnational kingdom within Uganda. Traditionally comprising 52 tribes the Ganda have a rich history and culture...
, an ethnic group in Uganda call such improvised articles Magezi ga Baganda (Wisdom of Baganda). Over the next half a century, that ingenuity has sharpened, the industry has thrived and taken in more apprentices and the range of articles locally manufactured has increased. In 2007, it was estimated that Katwe employed over 3,000 artisans and metal fabricators in over 800 individual small enterprises. The Katwe artisans now collaborate with Makerere University
Makerere University
Makerere University , Uganda's largest and second-oldest higher institution of learning, , was first established as a technical school in 1922. In 1963 it became the University of East Africa, offering courses leading to general degrees from the University of London...
's Faculty of Technology, to take their industry to the next level.
Another group that has been traditionally attracted to Katwe are entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
s and independent businesspeople, starting from meager beginnings, who have been viewed as "risky" by Uganda's conservative banking industry. These have included food vendors, wholesalers of local foodstuffs, herbalist
Herbalist
An herbalist is:#A person whose life is dedicated to the economic or medicinal uses of plants.#One skilled in the harvesting and collection of medicinal plants ....
s and owners of small transportation companies
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
. One such an entrepreneur is Namutebi, a herbalist and owner of a transportation company. Despite her lack of formal education and young age (33 years in 2007), her estimated net worth is in the seven-figure range (in US$) Other businesspeople who have come to Katwe include vendors of second-hand electronics and sellers of scrap goods and previously-owned merchandise.
Katwe has also attracted young men and women, with little education and practical skills who have resorted to all manner of crime, ranging from prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
and petty thievery to armed robbery and murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
. Katwe remains one of the highest crime-ridden areas in Kampala. Politicians and community leaders have blamed the high crime rate to high unemployment and rampant use o recreational drugs, but lasting solutions to the problem remain elusive.
The residential areas of Katwe have been a slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
, right from when human habitation started to appear along the railway tracks leading from Kampala
Kampala
Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central Division, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District.-History: of Buganda, had chosen...
to Kasese
Kasese
Kasese is a town in Western Uganda, lying north of Lake George. It originally grew around the copper mine at Kilembe, while attention later turned to cobalt mining. It is the 'chief town' of Kasese District and the district headquarters are located there...
in the first half of the 20th century. However, starting around 2007, respectable office space started to appear on Katwe's main streets. Quality Chemical Industries Limited
Quality Chemical Industries Limited
Quality Chemical Industries Limited , is a pharmaceutical manufacturing company in Uganda. It is the only company in Sub-Saharan Africa that manufactures triple-combination antiretroviral drugs.-History:...
, a Ugandan pharmaceutical manufacturer has its head office at Quality Chemicals House, in Katwe. Equity Bank
Equity Bank (Uganda)
-Overview:The bank provides banking services to individuals and to small and medium business enterprises. As of December 2009, the bank was the 14th largest commercial bank in Uganda with an estimated asset valuation of approximately US$81.4 million or approximately 2% of all bank assets in the...
maintains its headquarters in the area, having acquired Uganda Microfinance Limited which had established its headquarters there in August 2007. Subsequently, other reputable business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
es, including Stanbic Bank
Stanbic Bank (Uganda) Limited
Stanbic Bank Limited is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by Bank of Uganda, the national banking regulator.-Overview:...
, Barclays Bank
Barclays Bank (Uganda)
Barclays Bank Limited, commonly known as Barclays Bank , is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the twenty-three commercial banks licensed by Bank of Uganda, the national banking regulator.-Overview:...
and Warid Telecom
Warid Telecom
Warid Telecom International is an Abu Dhabi based mobile telecommunication firm providing telephony services in Congo, Pakistan and Uganda. Warid is expected to launch in the Ivory Coast and Georgia soon.-Pakistan:...
, are moving into the area, turning the former slum into a respectable business zone, one building at a time.
Landmarks
The landmarks within or near Katwe include:- The national headquarters of Equity BankEquity Bank (Uganda)-Overview:The bank provides banking services to individuals and to small and medium business enterprises. As of December 2009, the bank was the 14th largest commercial bank in Uganda with an estimated asset valuation of approximately US$81.4 million or approximately 2% of all bank assets in the...
in Uganda - A branch of Stanbic BankStanbic Bank (Uganda) LimitedStanbic Bank Limited is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by Bank of Uganda, the national banking regulator.-Overview:...
- A branch of Barclays BankBarclays Bank (Uganda)Barclays Bank Limited, commonly known as Barclays Bank , is a commercial bank in Uganda. It is one of the twenty-three commercial banks licensed by Bank of Uganda, the national banking regulator.-Overview:...
- A branch of FINCAFincaFinca is a board game published by Hans im Glück. Players collect fruit by stepping around a windmill and then selling the fruit in specific combinations to the various towns on the game board.The game was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres in 2009....
Uganda Limited - A Tier II Financial InstitutionBanking in Uganda-The early years:Prior to Uganda’s independence in 1962, Government-owned institutions dominated most banking in Uganda. In 1966 the Bank of Uganda, which controlled the issue of currency and managed foreign exchange reserves, became the Central Bank. Uganda Commercial Bank, which had fifty... - A branch of Pride Microfinance LimitedPride Microfinance LimitedPride Microfinance Limited , is a Microfinance Deposit-taking Institution in Uganda.-Location:The headquarters of PML are located in Metropole House, on Entebbe Road, in the central business district of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city...
- A Tier III Financial InstitutionBanking in Uganda-The early years:Prior to Uganda’s independence in 1962, Government-owned institutions dominated most banking in Uganda. In 1966 the Bank of Uganda, which controlled the issue of currency and managed foreign exchange reserves, became the Central Bank. Uganda Commercial Bank, which had fifty... - A branch of Uganda Finance Trust LimitedUganda Finance Trust LimitedUganda Finance Trust Limited , commonly called Finance Trust, is a Microfinance Deposit-taking Institution in Uganda.-Location:...
- A Tier III Financial InstitutionBanking in Uganda-The early years:Prior to Uganda’s independence in 1962, Government-owned institutions dominated most banking in Uganda. In 1966 the Bank of Uganda, which controlled the issue of currency and managed foreign exchange reserves, became the Central Bank. Uganda Commercial Bank, which had fifty... - A branch of Warid TelecomWarid TelecomWarid Telecom International is an Abu Dhabi based mobile telecommunication firm providing telephony services in Congo, Pakistan and Uganda. Warid is expected to launch in the Ivory Coast and Georgia soon.-Pakistan:...
- One of the eight (8) licensed telecommunications companies in Uganda. - Katwe Central Market
- Katwe Police Station - A station maintained by the Uganda Police ForceUganda Police ForceThe Uganda Police Force is the national police force of Uganda. The head of the Force is called the Inspector General of Police . The current IGP is Major General Edward Kale Kayihura. He is a soldier of the UPDF....
- Nakayima's Shrine - A place where a traditional soothsayerFortune-tellingFortune-telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. The scope of fortune-telling is in principle identical with the practice of divination...
interprets problems and predicts the future for a fee. - Glory Ministries International - A place of worship affiliated with the Pentecostal MovementPentecostalismPentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
- Katwe Martyrs Church - A place of worship affiliated with the Church of UgandaChurch of UgandaThe Church of the Province of Uganda is a member church of the Anglican Communion. Currently there are 34 dioceses which make up the Church of Uganda, each headed by a bishop....
- Nalongo's Restaurant - A restaurant that serves tradition GandaGandaGanda may refer to:* Ganda, Tibet, China* Ganda people of Uganda** Ganda language* Ganda Sirait, one of the big ethnic groups in Indonesia* Ganda, Angola* Ganda, the ancient Latin name of Ghent, a city in BelgiumPeople with the given name Ganda:...
food. It has been in the neighborhood since the early 1960s. - Katwe Primary School - An elementary school administered by the Uganda Ministry of Education
- Uganda Bikers Association Office - Offers motorcycles for rent to members