The township status of Ngaramtoni will soon be revoked and the busy shopping center located along Arusha-Nairobi road is going to be downgraded into a mere hamlet that it used to be.
At least, the proposal to annul the Ngaramtoni Council Authority designation was recently brought up during the just held Arusha Regional Consultative Committee meeting, which was held in the city, with arguments that the wind-swept, dusty area did not merit the title.
It was presented for discussions by some local government officials who claimed that local residents found the ranking too costly, especially when the prestige was at their own expenses.
“There is more harm than good to run the less-productive precinct with its current higher urban ranking.”
When Arusha was elevated from Municipality into a city, in 2012, the urban district had to be expanded by annexing some parts of the surrounding Arumeru District to boost its size and population.
As it happens, in order to properly illuminate the new Arusha City Status, nearby shopping centers, such as Ngaramtoni and Usa-River were elevated to become Township authorities, but as it seems now, the decision could have been rushed.
Presenting the proposition before the Regional Consultative Committee (RCC) session, the Arusha-Rural District Executive Director, Suleiman Msumi explained that the decision to relieve Ngaramtoni of its township status arises from complaints of residents who find the cost of running the center too high.
According to Msumi, after a series of complaints piled up in his office, they decided to take matters before the District Consultative Committee (DCC) where the delegates approve it to be transmitted to a higher decision making body, the Regional Consulting level.
From the regional level, the decision to revoke Ngaramtoni Township ranking will be forwarded to the Ministry for Regional Administration and Local Government for ratification.
Residents of Ngaramtoni find the Township authority status bestowed onto the rural precinct to be logically underwhelming and financially overwhelming,
Ngaramtoni, a shopping hamlet located some 20 kilometers from Arusha City, along the main Namanga-Nairobi highway emerged from old livestock auctioning activities that gave rise to settlements and eventually a shopping center.
It was always regarded as a village, until two decades ago when it became a township with an autonomous authority, which now called for more staffing and therefore higher costs of management.
In a different development, the Karatu Town Council Director, John Maha has appealed for his prefecture to be upgraded into a municipality citing the importance of the urban center located on the road leading to Ngorongoro and Serengeti.