The township is bordered by Kyaliwajjala to the north, Bweyogerere to the east, Kirinnya to the south, Banda to the west, Kyambogo and Naalya to the northwest. Kireka is situated on the Kampala-Jinja Highway, approximately 11 kilometers (6.8 mi), east of Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. The coordinates of the township are:00 20 48N, 32 39 00E (Latitude:0.346667; Longitude:32.650000)
Kireka is a busy township that grew out of a shopping center in the 1950s and 1960s. It is predominantly a working class city suburb with shops, restaurants, Internet cafes, banks, several gas stations and a post office. There is a large central market where farmers bring their produce to sell to the city folk. During the 2002 national census, Kireka, at about 54,000 people, comprised 38.4% of the population of Kira Municipality.
In 2011, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), estimated the population of Kira Municipality of which Kireka is a part, at 179, 800. Therefore, it is estimated that in 2011, the population of Kireka Township was approximately 68,000. Despite this growing population, to date the town only has less than 5 known sanitation facilities.