By Hamson Chisenga
My city Ndola dubbed “the friendly City” is home to a
population of 451,446 based on the 2010 census with a
projection of about 551, 910 as at July 1, 2017.
The City of Ndola was originally a centre of African and Arab
trade which was carried out in the shade of the fig tree,
located near the present railway goods station. This tree is
now represented in the coat of arms of the City of Ndola. It
has also been declared a national Monument.
The importance of Ndola was, however, established at the
beginning of the 20th century on July 18, 1904, both by
reason of its geographical position as the centre of
communications and transport system of the region and by
the existence of mineral resources at Bwana Mkubwa. The
situation was consolidated by the completion of the Cape
Town to Congo railway in 1910 and the discovery of copper
at Nkana in 1911 which resulted in the construction of the
Nkana branch railway line.
When the Colonial Government assumed control of the
territory in 1924, administration functions were based
entirely on the Ndola Boma, the then administrative centre
for both the immediate area and the Western Province (now
Copperbelt Province).
Following the discovery of Copper, Ndola developed rapidly,
Municipal status being conferred in 1932. This, however,
occurred when copper prices were at a low point and the
speculative developers were withdrawing support.
The motto of the Ndola City coat of arms adopted at that
time: ‘INDOLE NEC INDOLENTIA’ which means “Diligence not
indifference”, typified the spirit of the residents of that
period.
The motto: TIYENDE PAMODZI meaning let us all Go
Together was adopted. It reflects the spirit of communal
effort and co-operation.
After 20 years of relatively slow urban growth, rapid growth
from 1950 related to expansion of copper mining activity
enabled Ndola to increase its commercial and
communications services to Copperbelt.
It is notable that the growth of Ndola is historical and
geographical as distinct from those of the other Copperbelt
resources. Thus the prosperity of Ndola is based on its
proximity to the nations copper mining towns and to its
geographical position as the gateway to trade and traffic
between the Copperbelt province and the remainder of the
country.
Although Kitwe is the largest City in the province it ranks
second to Ndola in regional significance, firstly because of
the leading role which Ndola plays in Provincial
Administration as the a seat of the Member of Central
Committee for the Copperbelt, Secondly due to the fact that
a high proportion of parastatal, national and international
organizations have headquarters in Ndola; and thirdly
because Ndola is the commercial distributive and
communications centre both for the province and the
Provincial hinterland to the north of Kapiri Mposhi.
My City Ndola was conferred with city status in 1967 and the
boundary of the original Council area was extended to cover
277,750 acres or 1,124 square kilometers. This is now the
area over which the Ndola City Council exercises its planning
powers.
Ndola City Council has eight departments namely
Administration and Human Resource, Finance, Legal, Public
Health, Housing and Social Services, Engineering and City
Planning Department. All these departments are headed by
a Director who reports to the Town Clerk who is the
administrative head of the Local Authority. On the political
front, the council is headed by the city Mayor who
supersedes over 28 elected councilors from Ndola’s 28
wards.
Ndola is divided into 4 constituencies namely Ndola central,
Kabushi, Bwana Mkubwa and Chifubu constituency. My City
boosts of a representation at national level at parliament
through its 4 elected members of parliament.
The City of Ndola has a lot to offer in terms of tourism but
that’s a story for another day.
Credit: Ndola City Council.
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