On several occasions, the government has launched the construction of international airports. Hoima has one, Kabale has one, Arua has one, Gulu will also soon get one, and Karamoja has one in Kidepo National Park, while Teso leaders are either busy eating in the parliamentary canteen or are still on parliamentary exposure trips.
Teso Region should have been the first to receive an international airport, given the fact that it has a training school for aircraft operations.
There is land available for the expansion of the airfield in Soroti, and no one would refuse to relocate when the government becomes serious about the expansion.
Stadiums are being constructed in every region. Bugisu has one, Lira is now getting one, and Hoima has one. What is preventing one from being constructed in the Teso Region as well?
This is the only government that has thought wisely about developing Teso and the country at large, but after the leadership of President Museveni, Teso will miss a lot.
President Museveni is in the kitchen; he has finished cooking and serving food, but whether our leaders are not seeing the food being served is hard to tell. My humble request to our leaders is that Parliament is not a place for showing off makeup, wearing high-heeled shoes as if you are peeping into hell, or showing off clothes. It is a place where you go to legislate and secure what is beneficial to the people of your region.
Teso is the only region without any functioning factory. Although the region has Soroti Fruit Factory, it also operates according to its own mood.
We need a cabbage processing plant in Soroti City, we need Saimco Limited to be reinstated, we need meat packers to resume operations, and we need manufacturing industries in Teso.
Showing off with condolence envelopes at burials, church fundraisers, and weddings will not help create jobs for the youth of Teso and Ateker at large.
Stop struggling for the position of Chairperson of the Teso Parliamentary Group and instead struggle for better services for the region.
The writer is a senior veteran journalist.
