TOPIC 11 THE GOVERNMENT OF UGANDA

The role of government

National Constitution

Duties of the Government

 

Sources of government income

 

Government expenditure

 

Child Labour

End of topic exercise

The role of government

The term government means the group of people ruling a Country. A government is set up to organize people to work together and live in peace. Government in Uganda is divided into two parts; the central government and the local government. The central government oversees the administration of the entire country. Local government provides public services in district up to the village levels. In Uganda power and authority has been transferred from the central government to the district levels. This is known as decentralisation.

The role of government 

Central Government 

The central government is the main centre of administration. It carries the following roles:-

uphold and defend the constitution of Uganda. It ensures that the national constitution which is the supreme law is respected.

Maintaining law and order through police and prison services.

Defending the citizens with their property using the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) and other security organisations.

Building and maintaining major roads, bridges and hospitals.

Funding primary, secondary and higher institutions such as Kyambogo University, Makerere University Business School (MUBS), Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Makerere University (MUK).

Protecting the rights of the people. To ensure that human rights are not violated. Building and maintaining water and electricity services.

Protecting the environment and other natural resources in the country.

Plans and encourages economic development. Paying salaries and wages of civil servants and other workers of government.

Local Government 

Under the decentralization system, every district administration has the following roles;- 

i) To build and maintain health centres and dispensaries. 
ii) To build and maintain feeder roads. 
iii) To build and maintain primary schools. 
iv) To maintain markets in different parts of the district. 
v) To teach people about prevention of diseases so that they live a better life. 
vi) Collecting of refuse and rubbish for proper sanitation. 
vii) Ensuring that people in villages have latrines for proper sanitation and kitchens among others. 

 Activity

Exercise
1 . Identify any three services provided by government. 

2. Explain the term decentralization. 

3. Identify any three problems faced by government when providing social services.

The organs of Government

The government of Uganda has three major organs. These are the Executive, legislature and the Judiciary. Each of the above organs has its special roles it plays for the development of the country. 

Executive 

This is the ruling organ of any democratic country. In Uganda the executive is made up of the President, the cabinet and Civil servants. The cabinet consists of the President and Ministers.

The head of the executive branch is the president. Voters elect a president after every five years. The main responsibilities of the executive include; 

(i) To run the day- to-day affairs of the country. 

(ii) Defence of the borders of the country through the army. 

(iii) Maintenance of law and order through the police. 

(v) Collection of revenue through Uganda Revenue A on.

Duties of the President of Uganda 

i) The president directs the workers who run the government. 

ii) The president is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces. 

iii) He/she appoints Ministers, judges, Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Commissioners of various commissions abroad. 

iv) He/she looks for investors to come to Uganda and open up investments in the country in order to increase on job opportunities. 

v) He/she pardons convicted Prisoners. 

vi) He/she represents the country in International meetings of Heads of State. 

vii) He/she signs the laws once passed by Parliament. After signing, the laws are implemented. 

(viii) He/she presides over Cabinet meetings.

The ministers are political heads of the ministries. Within different ministries, there are ministers of state who assist the political heads to perform different duties.

The permanent Secretaries are the technical heads of the ministries and account for all the funds spent in the ministry.

The Permanent Secretary heads all the civil servants in a ministry. The executive ensures that the laws made by parliament and the policies designed to develop the country are carried out.

Civil servant is a person who works in government department. Civil servants, who serve in the public services oversee the activities.

These include teachers, medical workers, security forces like police, Army and prison officers and other professionals who have a right get pension from government when they retire.

Legislature 

This is also called the National Assembly or Parliament. Members of parliament are elected by the people.

The major role of the legislature is to make laws. The Speaker of parliament is the head of the legislature and chairs parliamentary debates.

One qualifies to be a member of parliament if he/she has an Advanced level certificate or its equivalent. 

A member of Parliament may represent constitueny. A constituency is an electoral area represented in Parliament.

Other Members of Parliament represent interest groups such as the Army, Youth, Disabled, Women and Workers. These are elected through electoral colleges.

An electoral college is a group of voters that vote on behalf of all the other voters.

Some people also become members of parliament after being made ministers.

These people are called ex-officios. They contribute to debates in parliament but do not have a right to vote. Parliament debates and passes laws.

Before a law is passed it is called a bill. Bills are proposed laws in parliament and once passed they are sent to the president for approval. 

Other roles of parliament include:- 

i) Passing the national budget once prepared by the Finance minister. They debate and see if it caters for all sectors in the country. 

ii) Controlling government expenditure. They check on the way government spends revenue. 

iii) Discussing any important issues concerning development of the country. 

iv) Approving persons appointed in public offices such as Ministers, ambassadors and inspector General of Police among others. 

v) Amending the constitution when there is cause.

Important officials in parliament 

Speaker - chairs parliamentary debates. The Speaker of Parliament is Rebecca Kadaga. 

Deputy speaker - Chairs parliamentary meetings In the absence of the speaker. 

The deputy Speaker is Jacob Olanyah 

Sergeant at Arms - Maintains security in the House and guards the mace. 

Clerk to National Assembly - Records all the proceedings in parliament. 

Mace : This is a golden rod carried by the Sergent at Arms as the Speaker enters the House. It represents the Authority of parliament

Hansard : It is a record of proceedings of parliament as captured by the staff of the clerk.

National Constitution

This is a set of laws that govern a country. The first set of laws in Uganda were introduced in the Buganda Agreement of 1900 where laws were set concerning land ownership, taxation and administration of the protectorate.

These laws were later revised in the 1955 Namirembe Agreement which allowed the return of Kabaka Muteesa from exile.

At independence in 1962, Uganda adopted a constitution which had the Prime Minister as the Chief Executive of the country and the president as a ceremonial head of state. 

In 1966, the Prime Minister had conflicts with the President Muteesa II who was also the Kabaka of Buganda. The 1962 constitution was suspended and a new one was given to the Members of Parliament without any debate on it.

In 1967 as new constitution was written, it was called the Republican Constitution because it abolisnea all kingdoms in Uganda. It was written by Queen's Counsel Godfrey Lukongwa Binaisa. It was referred to as the pigeon hole constitution. In this constitution, the President became the Executive head of state and not the Prime Minister.

Dr. Obote became the first Executive President of Uganda in 1967.

In 1995, a new constitution was made to replace the 1967 constitution. The Constitutional Commission (CC) headed by Justice Benjamin Odoki gathered views of people from most parts of Uganda.

The CC made a Draft Constitution of the collected views. The Draft Constitution was later discussed by the constituent Assembly (CA) in 1994.

People who discussed the draft Constitution were called the constituent Assembly Delegates. (CADs) These CADs were elected from all parts of the country.

The Interim Electoral Commission chaired by Mr. Besweri Steven Akabway organised these elections. The Constituent Assembly (CA) was chaired by Hon. James Wambogo Wapakhabulo with Hon Prof. Victoria Mwaka as Vice Chairman. The new constitution was enacted on 22nd September, 1995 and was made known to the public on 8th October, 1995.

Functions of a constitution. 

i) Contains the laws that leaders use to govern the country. 

ii) Outlines the importance of the people in determining their leaders. 

iii) Gives direction to people seeking to take control of government of Uganda. 

iv) Defines where power to change government lies. 

v) Defines the functions of the organs of government.

Importance of a constitution. 

• Creates law and order in society. There is rule of law and order which is enforced in society as stated in the sections of the constitution. 

• Safeguards the citizens and their property. Citizens are given powers by the constitution to own property. 

• Protects the rights of the citizens. Rights of all people are clearly defined. 

• Promotes national unity. All people in the country follow the same law which binds them together. 

• Promotes democracy in a country. Clearly stipulates how leaders at different levels will be elected. 

• Provides for peaceful transition of leadership. Gives the period when and how leadership should be changed. 

Relationship between a constitution and elections. 

The constitution is a set of laws governing a country while elections are a process through which people vote for their leaders.

This means that the constitution sets the steps to be followed in an election.

It also sets the necessary conditions to be in place before an election is held. Provides the calendar for the various election activities in the country.

Term limits are set and new dates for other elections are clearly set in the constitution. For instance Uganda holds Presidential and parliamentary elections after every five years.

The constitution also lays down the guidelines for setting up the Electoral commission. The Electoral commission is the body that conducts and supervises national elections in Uganda.

What are elections?
Why should every citizen who is 18 years and above participate in elections?

Sources of government income

The money earned by the government is called income. Uganda gets money from different sources. These sources are;

Taxation 
The main source of government revenue is taxation. Government created Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to collect taxes in the country. We have direct and indirect taxes in Uganda. Direct taxes are paid directly by the people. Some pay the money directly to revenue officers or have their salaries deducted.

This is called Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Indirect tax is paid by consumers on goods and services. All goods sold in the country are taxed and consumers also pay taxes on those goods. 

Income tax 

This is a type tax paid by civil servants who earn monthly salaries and business people. This kind of tax is called PAY AS YOU EARN (PAYE). 

Value Added Tax (VAT) 

This is a type of tax paid on goods and services by all consumers. It replaced Sales Tax and Commercial Transactions Levy. 

Property Tax 

This is a type of tax paid by property owners to city and town authorities. It varies from the amount of space and the quality of buildings. 

Local service Tax (LST) 

This is a type of tax paid to local authorities by all employed people. It replaced the graduated tax which used to be paid by all able bodied people above the age of eighteen years. 

Excise duty 

This is a type of tax paid on goods locally made in a country. 

Customs duty 

This is a type of tax imposed on goods that are imported into Uganda. 

Tourism 

This is the business of providing services to tourists. Government earns revenue as the tourists pay for the services available. 

Licences

This is tax charged by government for one to provide a service or to enjoy a given service. For example one needs a licence to operate a business, to own a gun or get a driving permit processed among others. 

Donations and gifts 

This is money and materials the government gets from other countries or international organisations to meet the needs of the people. Donations are not paid back. 

Loans 

This is money given to the government by another richer country or organization for a particular purpose and is to be paid back with interest. 

Grants. 

This is financial aid to needy countries. This is money that is given by another government or another organisation to be used for a particular purpose. It is not paid back. 

Sale of government bills 

This is a type of investment sold by the government in which a fixed amount of money is paid back on a certain date. 

Sale of government properties 

Government also gets money from sale of properties. This is called privatisation.Privatisation is the transfer of ownership of government parastatals to private owners.

These private owners also pay taxes to government. Parastatals are profitable companies that render services to people.

Examples of Companies that have so far been privatised include;

• Uganda commercial Bank, 
• Uganda Hotels 
• Uganda Foods and Beverages company, 
• Uganda Garments Industries Limited, 
• Lint Marketing Board, 
• Coffee Marketing Board among others.

Activity 

1 . Imagine that you are given 50,000/- to prepare a budget for a birth day party. Make a list of items that you would spend on your money. 

2.Why do you think it is important for every family/school to make a budget before spending. 

3.Draw a diagram showing a surplus budget.

Government expenditure

Expenditure is how government spends money. The government of Uganda spends money in the following ways:- 

Salaries and allowances 

Government pays civil servants and political leaders in the country monthly. Once they retire, some are given pension.

Development programmes 

Government puts in place development programmes like Universal Primary and Secondary Education.

Government also sets up projects like the Bujjagali Falls Dam, tarmacking of roads and establishing recreation grounds such as a stadium.

Rent 

Government hires space for the government offices for the various departments. Landlords for the office blocks demand for payments from government being the tenant.

Security

Government spends money to defend the people and their property. Equipment is bought for the Uganda Defence Forces to fight any foreign or internal enemies. Other security organisations in the country need money to carry out their activities well.

Social Services 

Government spends money to provide people with education, health, communication, water and electricity services.

A lot of money is spent building, maintaining and rehabilitating of the social services in the country. Universal Primary and Secondary Educational Programmes plus immunization programmes are essential and all need much money.

Rights and responsibilities of citizens of Uganda.

Rights 

All people in Uganda have certain rights which they have to enjoy because they are human beings. A right is freedom that belongs to a person.

They are to be enjoyed by all human beings regardless of race, age, colour, sex, tribe and religion. These rights include:-

i) The right to live. No body should take away the life of another.

ii) The right to own property and privacy.
iii) The right to food. People should not be denied food for any reason.
iv) The right to shelter and clean environment.
v) The right to education. All children are free to attend school at any time.
vi) The right to medical care. People should be treated, immunised and protected against killer diseases.
vii) The right to security. Everyone should be protected.
viii) The right to worship. People are free to follow any religion of their choice.
ix) The right to freedom of association.
Those are some of fundamental rights that have to be observed as recognised by the United Nations Charter.

Responsibilities of citizens
This is what citizens should do to contribute to the development of Uganda.

Maintaining law and order, paying taxes promptly, protecting public property, respecting national attributes like National flags, National Anthem and Coat of Arms, participating in community work, participating in national elections, respecting rights of other citizens, taking part in self help projects, protecting their environment, keeping it clean and health and protecting the National Constitution.

A Citizen

A person with full legal rights to live in a country is called a citizen. One can become a citizen of Uganda in the following ways, A citizen by; Birth: Someone is born in Uganda.

Descent
This is a citizen of Uganda whose parents or grandparents belonged to one of the indigenous communities by the year 1926. 

Registration
This is when one is born in Uganda but neither of his or her parents are Ugandans. He/she can apply to be registered as a Ugandan. 

Naturalisation
When a person has lived in Uganda for an aggregate period of twenty years. He/she can apply to be registered as a citizen by naturalization. 

Loss of citizenship 
One loses citizenship of Uganda if he spies on Uganda for an enemy country (espionage), or when one fights for an army that wages war against Uganda.

Child labour

Child labour refers to work that harms children or keep them from attending school. Child labour is very common in many parts of Uganda today. 

Causes of child labour. 

Poverty: Many people in the community are low income earners. They cannot meet all the needs of the family members. They make their children work in order to get some money for survival. 

Unemployment: some adults in Uganda are unemployed. Yet the cost of living in high. People usually send their children to work so as to get what to eat. 

Parental Ignorance. Parents are ignorant about child labour. They do not know that children are not supposed to work for money. 

Access to free education is limited. Not all children for example at secondary level have a chance to access Universal Secondary Education. 

Illiterate parents. They do not have the ability to read about policies on child labour. 

Overpopulation in some areas has influenced child labour in such a way that essential needs are not enough for all the family members.

Types of child labour. 

Child labour is categorised as follows: 

Domestic services - children work in people's homes as house maids and houseboys. 

Trade - some children are involved in selling food items such as bananas, ground nuts, pancakes and tomatoes.
Providing labour on farms- children provide agricultural labour on people's farms. 

Factory labour - children provide labour in the manufacturing industry.

Effects of Child labour. 

(i) Children are prevented from attending school. 

(ii) The child I s mental, physical and emotional well being is threatened. 

(iii) Forced labour and child trafficking, tortures children psychologically. 

(v) The minimum age by law is violated. Children are not supposed to provide labour unless when they are above 18 years. 

(vi) Children are poorly paid for the heavy work done. People over work children and the pay is not worth the work they do.

Ways of controlling child labour. 

(i) Increase the access to education for all children. Let free education be provided to all children. 

(ii) Sensitise people on various economic activities which can be done to help them to increase family income. 

(iii) Eradicate poverty in the communities. Start programmes which can help people to fight poverty. 

(iv) Educate and train women in child rearing methods. This can help them care for their children better. 

(v) Enforce the laws against child labour. Punish all those who promote child labour in society. 

 Activity

1 . Imagine that you are the local council chairperson in charge of children's affairs. How would you fight child labour in the community? 

2. What is child labour? 

3. Give any two examples of child labour common in your local area. 

Keywords on Government

Key words and end of topic exercise

Government: a group of people who lead a country. 

Constitution: a set of laws governing a country

Relationship: the way in which two or more things or people are involved. 

Value added tax: tax charged on goods and services consumed by people. 

Loan: amount of money that a person borrows from a bank. 

Licence: Official permission to have or do something. 

Tourism: Business of providing services and environment to tourists. 

Bill: proposed law. 

Right: freedom that belongs to a person. 

Budget: the government's estimated income and expenditure.

End of Topic Exercise

1 . Write a word from this list to complete each of the sentence that follow: Democracy, right, majority rule, custom. 

(a) Is a freedom a person has.......... 

(b) Is a form of government in which the people rule ..

(c) when decisions are made by voting, people follow ....

(d) Shaking hands when you meet someone is a......... 

2. Construct simple sentences using the key words given below: 

(a) constitution (b) executive (c) Loan (d) election 

Exercise 11 

1 . Explain the term government. 

2. State the two parts of government in Uganda. 

3. Who represents the central government in a district? 

4. Who heads the executive? 

5. What is the major role of the Legislature? 

6. How does the Judiciary help the executive? 

7. Suggest the role of the Chief Justice in Uganda. 

8. Mention the role played by Mr. Stephen Akabway in the making of the 1995 constitution. 

9. What is a National Constitution? 

10. Mention one problem government faces as it communicates to people.

TOPIC 12 POPULATION SIZE AND DISTRIBUTION IN UGANDA

Importance of a population Census

Population growth

Population distribution

Effects of HIV / AIDS on population

 

Problems of a high population

 

Solutions to a high population growth

End of topic exercise

 

Glossary 

Introduction to Population

This topic has several terms that you need to understand. These terms are commonly used, therefore you will learn the meaning of each one of them.

Population 
The number of people who live in a given area. The number of people in a home, class, village or town is a population. 

Census 

This is the official counting of people in the country. This is the process of determining the number of people in an area at the time of head count. 

Population decrease 

This is when the number of people in a given area goes down or reduces. 

Birth rate 

This refers to the number of new babies born in a given area or country per year. 

Death rate 

This refers to the number of people who die in a given area or country. The number of people dying per year per 1000 of the population. 

Fertility rate 

This is the ability of each woman to produce children in a specific period of time. 

Population distribution 

This refers to how the numbers of people are spread out across the country either more in one place and fewer in another

Population density 

The number of people living in an area per square kilometre or square unit area. 

Census night 

This is the night before the census is carried out in a given area or country. 

Teenagers 

These are youths between the age brackets 13 - 19 years of age. 

Importance of a population census 

The government needs to find out how many people live in all parts of the country. This can be done by carrying out a census.

Population census is conducted once every after ten years in Uganda. Census is carried out from house to house so as to get the accurate figures of people living in an area or a country. Census was organised in the following years 1921, 1931, 1948, 1959, 1969, 1980, 1991 and 2002.

During census, people are asked to provide certain information such as the number of people in a home, age, sex, level of . education, type of work they do so as to earn a living, the type of houses in the homestead, marital status and their ethnic background.

The population of Uganda has been growing gradually every year, for example, the total population of Uganda in 2007 was 28.4 million people. In 2013, the population was estimated to be 36 million.

Population census is important in the following ways. 

Helps the government to know the total number of people who live in the country. 

Allows easy planning for the population when providing services. Government can plan building schools and health facilities that match with the number of people.

Helps the government to plan how to get revenue that can be used to provide social services to the population.

Census provides information that help to determine the standard of living of the people.

Government is able to know the number of males and females.

 Activity

1. Carry out a simple census in your family. Gather information about the following: 

Names of family members, sex, education, age, occupation and relationship with the head of the family. Compare your information with your friends in your class. 

2. In small groups, discuss the problems faced when carrying out population census. 

3. Discuss in pairs, the kind of information government collects during census.

Population growth in Uganda

Population growth refers to the increase in the number of people in an area or country. The population increases because more babies are born every year and yet few people die. Whenever the birth rate is high, the number of people also increases gradually.

The factors that influence population growth

Improved health services. This has decreased the rate at which children and adults die. This leads to low death rates and leads to population increase over time.

Availability of food. Once a lot of food is available, the number of people will grow because they do not starve neither die of hunger.

Presence of better social services like health and clean piped water often allow many people to survive because diseases are minimised. 

Ignorance about family planning services also tend to lead to population increase. Population growth is not controlled. Peace and stability in a country or an area can also lead to population increase. People will not be killed as a result of wars.

High fertility rates among women also greatly increases population. One woman can be capable of producing between 6 and 8 in her life time.

Early marriages among young girls. This gives them chances of producing many children at an early age. Immigration: This is the movement of people from near and distant places to settle in other areas, this adds on the number of people in those areas.

Population distribution in Uganda

The government needs to know the way people are settled in an area. Population settlement in Uganda is not the same. Some areas have many people while others have few. Districts in Uganda with many people include; Kabale, Kampala, Rukungiri, Wakiso, Mbale, Iganga and Mbarara and we refer to such districts with very many people as being densely populated.

There are several reasons responsible for population distribution. Industrialisation is a factor that attracts people in an area as they search for jobs in industries to work as managers, builders, plumbers and drivers. Availability of markets, schools and higher institutions of learning attract large numbers of people to settle near them so as to access the services provided by those social centre.

Availability of water from lakes and rivers attracts people to settle in such areas because plenty of water supports irrigation farming. Some people are fishermen or women since the fishing ground is readily available.

Some people are directed by the government to migrate and settle in other areas allocated to them for either political, social or economic reasons. For example, in 2010 after the mudslide in Bududa district, government resettled some people in Masindi district.

Fertility of soils also attract big numbers of people because such farming activities can be carried out successfully.

Few people settle in areas with poor climate because rainfall is not reliable. Areas that experience good climate attract large numbers of people.

Pests and diseases. Areas where there are disease like tsetse flies discourage people to settle in such places hence very few people live there.

High population density 

This refers to when the number of people living in an area is very high per square Kilometre.

Causes of high population densities 

• The number of new babies born is bigger compared to the number of babies who die either during or after delivery. 

• Decrease in death rates due to improved medical services such as immunisation programmes. 

• High fertility rates among women. Most women have the ability to produce more than six children during their lifetime. 

• Neglect and ignorance of family planning services has led to population increase in most parts of the country. 

• Presence of fertile soils that support crop farming which leads to production of a lot of food. There is no starvation. 

• Many people having easy access to a well developed transport and 

• communication network such as road, railway, water and air. 

• As a result of social services such as health centres, entertainment centres, piped water often attract large numbers of people.

Low population density
This refers to how low/small the population is in a given area per square kilometre (Km2)

Causes of low population density 

(i) Low and unreliable rainfall that makes cultivation of crops very difficult. 

(ii) Absence of enough water makes human life difficult and this is partly due to unreliable rainfall received. 

(iii) Poor soils that do not support proper growth of crops and other vegetation. 

(iv) Disease vectors that scare away people as they spread diseases. 

(v) Lack of good means of transport and communication discourages people settling in some areas. 

Effects of HIV / AIDS on population and economic production 

HIV / AIDS is a deadly disease that has led to loss of life of many people who would have contributed to the development of the country economically, politically or socially. There are different ways in which government is fighting the spread of the disease. 

i) Promoting the usage of condoms if someone can not abstain before marriage. 

ii) Sensitising the youth about the dangers of the disease and advising them to learn how to live responsibly. 

iii) Using the media such as news papers, radios and television to pass on information to the public on how to safeguard themselves against the deadly disease. 

iv) Sensitizing the public through music, dance and drama about the effects of HIV / AIDS.

v) Advising pregnant women to seek antenatal care such that in case they are infected, the in-born child is protected.

Social effects of HIV / AIDS on the population 

i) Loss of lives of many people from all age groups. A lot of misery is left in society. This causes reduction in the population. 

ii) Population decrease in some families and areas which leaves the family members to suffer a lot since at times the people who die are the providers of the basic needs. 

iii) Children drop out of schools due to loss of parents who support them financially. This at times leads to high number of orphans. 

iv) Health workers risk a danger of being indirectly infected by the disease.

Economic effects of HIV/AIDS on the production 

(i) Reduction in the taxes of the country. Some people who die are tax payers either from their business or PAYE. 

(ii) Declining levels of skilled labour force where people who are highly skilled are dying of the AIDS scourge. 

(iii) Individuals who would provide household income are prevented from working either because they are ill or caring for another family member. 

(iv) AIDS leads to the decline in food production in some areas as farming activities are neglected due to household illnesses.

 Activity

1 . Study the map of population density answer the questions below:

(a) Name any three districts in Uganda with high population density. 

(b) suggest two reasons why those districts named above have a high population density. 

(c) Hold a discussion to explain why North Eastern Uganda is sparsely populated.

Problems and advantages of a high population

i) Shortage of land for both settlement and farming activities that leads to division of land into small plots (fragmentation) and land disputes. 

ii) Competition for social services such as health centres and schools. Services may not be adequate for a high population. 

iii) High government expenditure on the services it provides to the population. 

iv) Overcrowding, especially in urban areas resulting into easy spread of diseases due to poor sanitation. 

v) Competition for jobs increases as more people look for employment. Unemployment at times results into increased crime rates. 

vi) Encourages rural-urban migration. Many migrate from villages in search for opportunities such as employment in urban areas. 

vii) Shortage of housing in urban areas which leads to the development of slums. 

viii) Shortage of food that results into famine and starvation of the population.

Advantages of a high population 

i) Easy provision of labour. There is a large labour force in the industrial and agricultural sector. 

ii) The high population pays a large amount of taxes which helps government to raise high revenue to run the country. 

iii) Provides a large market for goods produced. Most of the goods produced are consumed which boosts trade in the country.

Problems of low population A small population of a country has disadvantages; 

i) The population may be unable to use the resources available because the people are very few to exploit most of them. 

ii) There is shortage of labour required in the production of agricultural produce, industrial goods and services. 

iii) Low market as the population can not use all the goods produced in the country. 

iv) Low income is raised by the government through taxes. A small population can not contribute alot of money compared to a high population.

Solutions to a high population growth It is important for a country to control population growth because the resources available may be over used which is dangerous for the future generation. 

• Birth control. For example through family planning programmes such as usage of pills and condoms. 

• Encourage migration of people from densely populated areas / regions to areas with low population. 

• Setting up settlement areas where people can be transferred from densely populated areas. 

• Educating the people to change from their traditional attitude of having many children whom they cannot look after properly. 

• Expansion of towns and cities through the construction of storeyed buildings.

• This would reduce congestion and development of slums. 

• Increasing the production of food by modernising agriculture to cater for the large numbers. 

• The government should continue sensitising the people over Radios and televisions. Advising them to have children they can manage to take care of and the dangers of having many children. 

• Discouraging early marriages. Government should increase access to universal secondary education. 

• Giving tax benefits and rewards to small families who have a manageable number of children.

 Activity

1 . Write down four reasons why some people need large families. 

2. Discuss ways in which government can control population growth. 

3. Find out from your parents or people in the community why their local areas have either a low/high population density.

Glossary and key word on population

Keywords and end of topic exercises

Urbanisation : growth of towns and cities 

Birth rate : number of babies born

Death rate : number of people who die. 

Enumerator : someone who counts people during a census.

Fertility rate : number of babies born to each woman in her life time.

Age structure : number of people of each age group.

Life expectancy: number of years a person is expected to live.

Infant mortality rate: number of children who die below 5 years. 

Teenager : people aged between 13 - 19.

Exercise 
1. Read and spell the key words given below
(a) fertility rate
(b) urbanisation
(c) Teenager 

2. Construct simple sentences using the words given below
(a) Life expectancy
(b) death rate
(c ) Family planning.

Exercise 12 1 . What is population?
2. Give any two causes of population growth.
3. What is a census night?
4. What is population density?
5. Why are some areas densely populated while others are sparsely populated?
6. How can the government discourage families from having many children?
7. What is the difference between densely and sparsely populated.
8. Which Ministry is responsible for carrying out Census?
9. Why is Census car

Glossary

Bill: a proposed law. 

Budget: a plan for spending and saving money 

Cardinal directions: the four main directions north, south, west, East and west.

Colony : a settlement started by people who leave their country to live in another land. 

Conservation : the protecting of natural resources and using them wisely. 

Constitution : set of laws that govern a country. 

Crater : hole at the top of a volcano.

Democracy : a system of government by freely elected representatives of the people

Drainage : artificial large -scale removal of water from a wetland/swamp by whatever means. 

Election : an instrument through which leaders are chosen.

Ethnic group : a group of people with same origin speaking related languages

Government : a group of people who govern a country

Immigrant : a person who comes to live in a country from some other place. 

Independence : freedom from control by others. 

Monument : a building/stone/ statue erected In memory of someone who is dead or someing else. 

Natural resource : something found in nature that people can use. 

Population density : the number of people living in an area per square kilometre. 

Poverty : being very poor

Recycle : to use again. 

Refinery : a factory that turns crude oil into useful products such as petrol. 

Unemployment : being without a job.