Land grabbing, corruption, lack of piped water, low latrine coverage and electricity distribution are some of the issues voters in Jinja East constituency want their next Member of Parliament to address.
Jinja East Constituency voters go to the polls on February 9th in a Parliamentary by-election after Court nullified the election of Nathan Igeme Nabeta last year. Five candidates are vying for the seat including NRM’s Nabeta and his main rival, Paul Mwiru of the Forum for Democratic Change among others.
John Mweru, chairperson Masese III village says the people have no piped water, yet the water is pumped from Masese.
He says this has affected the health and sanitation as people are forced to use unsafe water.
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Mweru says in most places without latrines, people use bushes to ease themselves. During the rainy season this leads to spread of diseases.
Paul Batambuze, the general secretary Walukuba – Masese land lords association says people in Jinja East have witnessed a lot of land grabbing. In most cases their leaders are implicated in the land grabbing. Last year, Nathan Igeme Nabeta was named in the irregular sale of over 100 acres of land in Kirinya. The parliamentary accounts committee found out that each acre was bought at five thousand shillings and the proper procurement procedure was not followed as the land was not advertised and there was no bidding.
Currently, the Inspectorate of Government circumstances under which more than 30 acres of customary land in Masese was sold to two foreign investors without compensating the sitting tenants.
Batambuze says the next MP should fight for the poor and marginalized people.
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