Jinja District is located in Busoga region in the south Eastern part of Uganda. Jinja is one of the most developed towns in terms of industries/companies and other attractions like the Source of the Nile which has lead to the development of tourism in Uganda. From Kampala the capital city of Uganda to Jinja there is a distance of 81 kilometers by road which is a 3 hour by drive and 40 minutes by flight. Jinja district is situated in northern shores of Lake Victoria near the source of the White Nile. Which means jinja is surrounded with water bodies of the largest Lake Victoria in East Africa which act has tourist attractions with very many activities that can be done along this lake such as water rafting, boat cruise, fishing and also viewing of the falls.
Jinja is known as the famous town in the SouthEastern region of Uganda and not only Uganda but also in East Africa because of its diversity in industries. The newly constructed jinja express highway, waterfalls and best schools and universities are found in Jinja. Before 1906 jinja district was a fishing village that benefited from being located on long distances of trade routes.
The word Jinja means “Rock” or a place of rock where very many Asians migrated from along the Nile / from the source of the river Nile on the northern shores of Lake Victoria.
Jinja’s average temperature in year is 73.0 F (22.8 C) and its warmest average temperature is 74.0 F that occurs in the month of January. The coolest month is June with an average temperature of 71.0 F (21.7 C). Its highest temperature was however recorded as 98.0 F.
Owen falls dam was constructed in 1954 and this was the most attractive area in jinja because of these falls which were giving out a good experience of splashing waterfalls. Thousands of passengers & schools are engaged in visiting these falls because they could give good sight seeing the fishermen coming out in boats and taking photos on all the rocks with rod and hook. They also viewed the hippopotamus and crocodiles lying sleepily on water. Cattle’s drives down to drink water were also an attraction. This nature fall was spoilt through constructing the dam without expecting that something will go wrong. All these falls shut down the view by the splashing water which was measuring about twelve feet deep and 400-500 hundred feet broad. These natural falls were good to be looked at which could take all your minds for several hours.
In 2002, Uganda carried out a national census meaning counting people in every district to know the total population of the country. They found Jinja’s population was 71,213 of which 36,325 were males and 34,888 were females. In 2010 the Uganda Bureau of statistics noticed that the population had increased from 71,213 to 82,800 and 2011 it estimated the population at 89,700. Later it decreased to 72,931.
Jinja District is known as a developed district with very many companies which manufacture the products of Uganda and has made Uganda’s economy to be the top manufacturing in East Africa. Some of the companies include Kakira Sugar works company, Nile Breweries Limited, Bidco international oil refining company, MM Integrated Steel Uganda Limited, Kiira Motor Corporation, Jinja commercial market and also most tourist attractions like the source of the Nile, Owen falls dam, Lake kasenyi which are for study purposes and research and many others.
Jinja District is the location of the largest sugar factories in East Africa which was started by Madhvani and it was named Madhvani Group of companies that employees over 75,00 workers.
Jinja is also the location to the headquarters of Nile Breweries limited in Uganda which is found in Njeru suburb of Jinja next to the source of the Nile. The construction of Nile Breweries started in 1952 and was finished four years later. Its alcohol was renamed Nile Special Lager and the company became the best brand in East Africa. Nile Breweries were first consumed in 1956 and 2001 and the company was fully acquired by South African Breweries.
Jinja is one of the leading manufacturers of steel in the South Eastern part, one of the districts in Uganda. This steel industry was completed at ‘Shs 122 billions” and $47million for the plants to produce 50,000 metric tons of steel products a year. They had to get employees who will help in manufacturing of these metric tonnes of over 1800 workers and the company had hoped to invest USD 600 million through 2018.
Jinja is the location to the famous company that manufactures the best quality cooking oil in East Africa known as Bidco international oil refining company that manufactures the palm oil in the country. The palm oil plantation covers 6,500 hectares on the island of Bugala, kalangala, Ssese island which are surrounded with Lake Victoria in Kalangala district. Jinja is a different district next to Kalangala but the palm fruits have been planted there because of the big size of the land. So the factory in the island crushes the fruits after the crude palms are transported to Jinja for refining into other products.
Jinja is a developed town with one of the largest commercial markets in Uganda full of fresh products. It was built in 2014 and can accommodate up to 4500 vendors. The government of Uganda sent over USD 13.7 million to complete the building, with a loan from the African Development Bank from 2011 and 2014.
Jinja has one of the car manufacturing facilities in Uganda known as Kiira Motor Corporation project which is constructed on 100 hectares of land at the jinja industrial and Business park. It was expected to start in 2018 with the help of funds from the government.
Jinja has got a number of activities that the can engage travelers/ tourists and the fact that they are cheap makes it a perfect destination for Uganda Budget Safaris. Some of these activities include activities like viewing of White waters, water rafting, kayaking, Jet boat riding, sunset cruise, mountain biking that can be done along the Nile, bungee jumping, canoeing, fishing, camping and birding around the shores of the River. All these make Jinja a wonderful town where one can choose to tour while in Uganda.
Jinja also has unique hotels / accommodation facilities where tourists can sleep and these include; Nile Guest House, Source of the smile Guest House, Golf course Health and Guest House, Sun set Hotel, Busoga Trust Guest House and many more other hotels. All these depend on the tourists’ budget.
