Kaabong, Uganda : Authorities in Kaabong district, located in the Karamoja sub-region, have threatened to stage a street demonstration demanding what they believe is rightfully theirs in terms of service delivery.
Speaking to the media, Kaabong District Chairperson Mr. Jino Meri expressed disappointment with the Ministries of Agriculture and Water and Environment.
He stated that if districts were allowed to rate the performance of the ministries, the Ministry of Water and Environment would not score even 20 marks in Kaabong district.
According to Mr. Jino, they are disturbed by the Ministry of Water and Environment’s failure to desilt Longoromit dam, which is currently at the drying stage. Additionally, there is a failure to construct the Longorotopuc dam in Sidok Sub-county, which is now neglected despite clear indications that money was allocated for its construction.
He added that the Ministry of Agriculture has also abandoned the construction of a 6.9 billion shillings dam in Usake village. The construction of the dam, which commenced in 2017, is still at the same level to date.
“What’s troubling the people of Kaabong the most is that Parliament approved a supplementary budget for dam construction in Karamoja in the 2021-2022 financial year, but to our dismay, other districts have received their allocations except Kaabong,” he said.
Mr. Jino asserted that the technical staff at the two ministries are the most corrupt compared to others.
Opinion leader Alfred Lokut stated that their protests aim to express disappointment with the government over these unfinished projects.
“We don’t understand what issue the people of Kaabong district have, as it’s only in Kaabong where many government projects rarely get completed,” he said.
Resident Betty Angolere proposed that the government should arrest any technical person responsible for the failed work in Kaabong.
“We are tired of blaming the government for not providing us with better services when it’s the technical teams in the two ministries causing all of this,” she said.
Several attempts to obtain comments from the two ministries failed as they did not respond to our calls.
