Tororo | |
|---|---|
 Storm in Tororo | |
  Tororo Location in Uganda | |
| Coordinates: 00°41′34″N34°10′54″E / 0.69278°N 34.18167°E | |
| Country |  Uganda |
| Region | Eastern Region of Uganda |
| District | Tororo District |
| Elevation | 4,193 ft (1,278 m) |
| Population (2014 Census) | |
| • Total | 41,906 [1] |
Tororo is a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial center of Tororo District.
Tororo was garrisoned by the Uganda Army's Air and Sea Battalion during the Uganda–Tanzania War (1978–79). On 2 March 1979, rebels loyal to Milton Obote attacked the town, whereupon part of the garrison defected while the rest was routed. Tororo was recaptured by the Uganda Army in a counterattack two days later; [2] [3] many local civilians were displaced by the fighting. [4] A few weeks later, however, Ugandan President Idi Amin's rule throughout Uganda collapsed and the garrison of Tororo reportedly mutinied yet again. [5] In late April 1979, the Tanzania People's Defence Force's (TPDF) 19th Battalion, 208th Brigade, moved into Tororo. They encountered no resistance. The town was largely deserted and completely looted. Journalists Tony Avirgan and Martha Honey stated that the local UA garrison had fled the city, [6] whereas Tom Cooper and Adrien Fontanellaz claimed that the mutinous troops helped the anti-Amin forces to secure the town. [5]
Tororo was captured by the National Resistance Army from the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) in early February 1986 during the Ugandan Bush War. The UNLA counter-attacked in an attempt to retake Tororo and turn the tide in the war, but was repelled. [7]
The town is approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of the town of Malaba at the border between Uganda and Kenya. This is approximately 209 kilometres (130 mi), by road, east of Kampala, Uganda's capital and largest city. [8] The geographical coordinates of the town are 0°41'34.0"N, 34°10'54.0"E (Latitude:0.692780; Longitude:34.181655). [9] Tororo town lies at an average elevation of 1,278 metres (4,193 ft) above sea level. [10]
In 2002, the national census put the population of the town of Tororo at 34,810. In 2010, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) estimated the population at 42,500. In 2011, UBOS estimated the mid-year population at 43,700. [11] The 2014 national population census put the population at 41,906. [1]
In 2015, the population of the town was projected at 43,100. In 2020, the mid-year population of Tororo Town was projected at 48,500. It was calculated that the population of this municipality grew at an average annual rate of 2.5 percent, between 2015 and 2020. [12]
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 34,800 | — |
| 2010 | 42,500 | +22.1% |
| 2011 | 43,700 | +2.8% |
| 2014 | 41,906 | −4.1% |
| 2015 | 42,800 | +2.1% |
| 2020 | 48,500 | +13.3% |
| source: [1] [11] [12] | ||
Tororo is home to three cement factories thus making Tororo the biggest producer of cement in the country. Tororo Cement Limited is the largest cement producer with 3 million tons produced annually. Tororo cement also produces nails, iron sheets, wire mesh among others. [13] [14]
Larfage has also established their Hima Cement factory in Tororo producing a variety of cement brands. [15]
Tororo has National cement company Uganda Limited (Simba brand), inaugurated in August 2018 and producing 2000 metric tonnes daily. [16]
It is also home to SEBA Foods, a food factory that was officially opened by the president of Uganda on 25 June 2010. [17]
Electromaxx Limited constructed a 20 megawatt thermal plant, Tororo Power Station, which was commissioned in June 2010.
Tororo is also the location of Nilefos Minerals Limited, a subsidiary of the Madhvani Group of companies. Nilefos mines and processes phosphates for use in fertilizer and related industries. [18]
Tororo marks the junction of railway lines to Pakwach, via Soroti, and to Kasese, via Kampala. Since 1993, the metre gauge line from Tororo Junction to Gulu and Pakwach has been out of use.
Rift Valley Railways funded the clearing of the line east to Gulu of vegetation and repairing track and bridges, thus allowing the first commercial train for 20 years to run through on the metre gauge track from the Kenyan port of Mombasa through Nairobi and Eldoret to the Kenyan frontier in Tororo and onwards to Gulu on the line to Pakwach on 14 September 2013. [19]
Tororo has a tropical monsoon climate with a short dry season [20] The average annual temperature is 22.4 °C (72.3 °F) (average high 28.7 °C (83.7 °F) and average low 16.2 °C (61.2 °F)). Average annual precipitation is 1,494 millimetres (58.8 in). [21] Tororo has many thunderstorms and may be the place where thunder occurs on more days than any other place on Earth. [22] From September to December there is rain most days in the late afternoon. The drier and hotter season starts in December.
The following additional points of interest lie within the town limits or near its edges:
1. The tourist attraction of the town is the dominating rock outcrop that overlooks the town known as Tororo Rock. It is a hike that takes around an hour to the top. There used to be a cable car that took people to the top but this was closed down after a couple of people died in an accident. There is a fee for a tour guide at the bottom of the rock, just off the golf course.
2. There is a golf course in town with a clubhouse with a pool
3. Offices of Tororo Town Council
4. The Tororo central market was knocked down in September 2017, to make way for a new indoor shopping centre that was predicted to be finished in 2020. This has led to a new market starting nearby in Water Village.
5. Tororo General Hospital, a 200-bed public hospital administered by the Uganda Ministry of Health.
6. Uganda Martyrs' Cathedral, the seat of the archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tororo
7. St. Anthony's Hospital (Uganda), a 150-bed mission hospital affiliated with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Tororo
8. Christ the King Priory, a Benedictine monastery of the Congregation of Missionary Benedictines of Saint Ottilien
9. Tororo–Mbale–Soroti Road [23] begins here and continues in a northwesterly direction, to end 158 kilometres (98 mi) away at Soroti.
10. Tororo Airport, a public airport administered by the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda
11. Tororo Solar Power Station
12. Busitema University, one of the public universities in Uganda, located 28 kilometres (17 mi), by road, southwest of the central business district of Tororo town.
13. A mobile branch of PostBank Uganda
14. Branch of the National Social Security Fund.
The Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) was a political group formed by exiled Ugandans opposed to the rule of Idi Amin with an accompanying military wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA). UNLA fought alongside Tanzanian forces in the Uganda–Tanzania War that led to the overthrow of Idi Amin's regime. The group ruled Uganda from the overthrow of Amin in April 1979 until the disputed national elections in December 1980.
Jinja is a city in the Eastern Region of Uganda, located on the north shore of Lake Victoria.
Lira is a city in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main municipal, administrative, and commercial centre of Lira District.
Soroti is a city in Eastern Region of Uganda. It is the main city, commercial, and administrative center in Soroti District, one of the nine administrative districts in the Teso sub-region. Soroti city was immediately approved for operationalization ahead of schedule by the Parliament of Uganda in the Financial Year 2020/2021.
Moroto is a town in Moroto District in the Northern Region of Uganda. The town serves as the location of the district headquarters.
Masaka is a district and a city in the Buganda Region in southern Uganda, west of Lake Victoria. The city is the headquarters of Masaka District.
The Uganda–Tanzania War, known in Tanzania as the Kagera War and in Uganda as the 1979 Liberation War, was fought between Uganda and Tanzania from October 1978 until June 1979 and led to the overthrow of Ugandan President Idi Amin. The war was preceded by a deterioration of relations between Uganda and Tanzania following Amin's 1971 overthrow of President Milton Obote, who was close to the President of Tanzania, Julius Nyerere. Over the following years, Amin's regime was destabilised by violent purges, economic problems, and dissatisfaction in the Uganda Army.
Pakwach is a town in the Northern Region of Uganda. It is the main commercial, political and administrative center of Pakwach District. In the 19th century the town came under brief occupation by the Ottoman tributary of the Khedivate of Egypt, as part of Hatt-ı Üstuva (Equatoria) Vilayet.
The Ugandan Bush War was a civil war fought in Uganda by the official Ugandan government and its armed wing, the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA), against a number of rebel groups, most importantly the National Resistance Army (NRA), from 1980 to 1986.
Kikosi Maalum, also known as the Special Battalion or the grand coalition, was a militia of Ugandan exiles formed in Tanzania to fight against the regime of Idi Amin. The unit was founded by and loyal to former Ugandan President Milton Obote, and served as his de facto private army. It was commanded by former army officers David Oyite-Ojok, and Tito Okello. Kikosi Maalum took part in the Uganda–Tanzania War, fighting alongside the Tanzanian military against Amin's forces. In course of this conflict, the militia was nominally unified with other Ugandan rebel groups, forming the Uganda National Liberation Army (UNLA) in 1979. After the fall of Amin's regime and Obote's return to power, Kikosi Maalum became the core of Uganda's new national army.
Bombo is a town in Luweero District in the Central Region of Uganda.
Railway stations in Uganda include:
The Battle of Tororo was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place from 2 to 4 March 1979 at Tororo, Uganda and its surroundings. It was fought between Ugandan rebels loyal to Milton Obote and Uganda Army units loyal to President Idi Amin. In an attempt to destabilise Amin's rule and capture weapons for an insurrection, a group of guerrillas launched a raid from Kenya against Tororo, whose garrison partially mutinied and joined them after a short fight. Loyalist Ugandan military forces, most importantly its air force, launched a large-scale counter-attack and completely defeated the rebels after heavy fighting.
The Battle of Lira was one of the last battles in the Uganda–Tanzania War, fought between Tanzania and its Uganda National Liberation Front (UNLF) allies, and Uganda Army troops loyal to Idi Amin on 15 May 1979. The Tanzanian-led forces easily routed Lira's garrison of Amin loyalists, and then intercepted and destroyed one retreating column of Uganda Army soldiers near the town.
The Battle of Jinja was a battle of the Uganda–Tanzania War that took place on 22 April 1979 near and in the city of Jinja, Uganda between Tanzanian and allied Uganda National Liberation Front forces, and Ugandan troops loyal to Idi Amin. The Tanzanians and the UNLF men met slight resistance and captured Owen Falls Dam and the town of Jinja.
The Battle of Karuma Falls was one of the last battles in the Uganda–Tanzania War, fought between Tanzania and Uganda Army troops loyal to Idi Amin on 17 May 1979. Soldiers of the Tanzania People's Defence Force attacked Ugandan forces at the bridge over the Nile River at Karuma Falls. Tanzania's 205th Brigade was tasked with advancing from Masindi to Gulu, taking a route which passed over the Karuma Falls Bridge. The brigade assaulted the crossing on the morning of 17 May with tanks and artillery and one of its battalions ran over the bridge to attack the Ugandan positions. The Ugandans destroyed a TPDF tank, delaying the Tanzanians long enough to board buses and retreat to Gulu. The Tanzanians secured Karuma Falls before capturing Gulu several days later.
The Uganda–Tanzania War of 1978–79 included an air campaign, as the air forces of Uganda and Tanzania battled for air superiority and launched bombing raids. In general, the conflict was focused on air-to-ground attacks and ground-based anti-aircraft fire; only one dogfight is known to have occurred.
Uganda People's Defence Force Air Force, more commonly known as Ugandan Air Force, is the branch of the Uganda People's Defence Force that deals with the air warfare. Its headquarters is located at Entebbe, Uganda. The current air force commander is Charles Lutaaya, while Emmanuel Kwihangana serves as chief of air staff.
From 1986 to 1994, a variety of rebel groups waged a civil war against the Ugandan government of President Yoweri Museveni. Most of the fighting took place in the country's north and east, although the western and central regions were also affected. The most important insurgent factions were the Uganda People's Democratic Army (UPDA), the Uganda People's Army (UPA), Alice Auma's Holy Spirit Movement (HSM), and Joseph Kony's army. Several smaller rebel factions and splinter groups of the larger movements waged their own campaigns; the rebels often clashed with each other. All belligerents, including the government, targeted civilians and committed human rights violations. In course of fighting that involved tens of thousands of troops, the Ugandan government was able to gradually defeat or contain most rebel factions. The operations in the north and east caused great destruction and resulted in high civilian casualties.
The Eastern Uganda campaign of 1979 was a military operation by Tanzanian forces and allied Ugandan rebels, most importantly the Uganda National Liberation Army, against Uganda Army (UA) troops loyal to Idi Amin during the Uganda–Tanzania War. The operation was launched by the Tanzania People's Defence Force (TPDF) on 15 April 1979 to secure eastern Uganda and oust UA remnants which were still active in the area. The TPDF mainly targeted the important towns of Jinja, Mbale, Tororo, Soroti, and Moroto. It encountered only sporadic resistance, as most UA soldiers focused on fleeing with loot instead of resisting, and successfully secured most of eastern Uganda. In the northeast, the collapse of the Uganda Army resulted in local Karamojong groups seizing much weaponry which would result in long-lasting security issues.
00°41′34″N34°10′52″E / 0.69278°N 34.18111°E
Capital: Tororo | ||
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