A group of people in Kitgum plans to march 60 kilometers from their village to the district headquarters protest against the poor state of their roads.
The group is led by Walter Canokora, the LC1 chairperson of Omia-Anyima Central village, who says he is fed up with the reluctance of the district leadership to provide them with good motorable roads.
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The poor roads connect Kitgum Matidi to Omia-Anyima and Orom sub-counties. They are very rudimentary roads, some of them no more than paths, making them impassable during the rainy season. Even when it is dry, the roads are in such a bad state that only four-wheel drive cars and hardy trucks can be used on them.
Canokora says the district leaders have given the people of Omiya-Anyima endless empty promises. He says he is tired of the inaction and will lead a demonstration to show the administration how unhappy the people are.
Dario Oroma, a resident of Omiya-Aminya, says he and others in the village are behind their chairperson. He hopes that the demonstration will force the district leaders to repair the roads.
However the demonstrators may not get the answers they want when they visit the Kitgum district headquarters.
Alex Oyet, the Kitgum Secretary for Works, says the roads are not the responsibility of the district local government, but the central government. He says the Uganda National Roads Authority promised to begin the repairs to the roads and he is surprised that no action has been taken as yet.
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The Uganda National Roads Authority manager for Kitgum, Isaac Wani, was not available for comment.
