Moroto Municipality. A thing or two persistently keeps dragging
the growth of this principal Karimojong capital backward despite her pedigree.
For starters; Moroto, Mbale,
Arua, Jinja, Soroti, Lira and Gulu were created at about the same period and
should ideally be at the same development path. Now as it stands, we can’t
believe it because even smaller towns; Mbarara, Fortportal, Masindi, Mubende,
Hoima, Luwero, Busia including other ‘microscopic’ trading centers around the
Country have come and proceeded far away from our Moroto.
Grotesquely (boy, run for your
dictionary), the factors causing this social economic immobility in development
are quite easy to fix. In my view, there is need for a Kagame type leadership to ensure a breakthrough. Well, am not saying this should
be Rwanda. It remains Uganda. However, a fashionable person wouldn’t hesitate
to ask; what the hell is the problem with Moroto? Who is not doing his/her
role? It’s Just quite crazy guys.
Today, this heroes’ day, I clutched
on such a haunting walk traversing some central streets in Moroto’s liveliest center
–Camp Swahili. Plainly speaking, the
town still suffers terrible filth despite budget allocations by government and
development NGOs in the health and hygiene sector.
Should we say that the funds are
wrongly used? I couldn’t agree with a colleague whose observation last year
showed that even an international NGO had intervened in a non-realistic fashion.
Someone had taken a photo of a dumping pit created by an NGO in an attempt to
rid the Municipality of garbage.
It looked really bad because the
rubbish was full to beyond capacity and garbage was all over a radius of 10
meters and more from the ‘development innovation’ point. Today, I agree fully
with my friend. The dumping pits are now officially swallowed off. You won’t
see them again, but instead today, even a blind man can fully visualize that all
the ‘innovation points’ have become potential disease breeding areas in the
Municipality.
Guess what? If I were in charge
of making things change in this town, I would ask all hygiene/sanitation project
implementers to direct funds on vehicles and fuel for fetching garbage out of
the town. Honestly, we can’t have a dumping ground within the town and near
people’s residents! Anyhow, am no engineer but technocrats should advice and
give our town a good image.
More useless thing is the
presence of ‘human dung’ in several points of this very important town. Terrible
and unbearable spots include Labour-line area after hotel D’Andrias. I would
give the owners of that new structure opposite the Market an ultimatum. They either
complete the structures immediately and allow business or pay security guards
to stop members from dumping ‘dung’ all over the place.
Other terrible places are
Nakapelimen, Katamukono and Campshaili Chini near Kakoliye Primary school.
During Taria sita, I sympathized with
Museveni’s soldiers. The UPDF tried their best to fish out smelly garbage out
of this town but boy, feaces is not a good thing. I would equally use the
military to deal with the unfortunate members the military way. Can’t the army succeed in this
disarmament deal too?
The Municipality should alternatively write a Project
proposal for the recruitment, training and deployment of hygiene security
guards (HSG). Trust me; donors like UNICEF can release funds for such. HSGs
would be tasked with identifying and arresting all those who litter or defecate
within the town. A strict by-law in place would also see to it that such
culprits are arrested, tried and taken to prison. Boy, wouldn’t this be the only
way, we might easily redeem our town from the current grime impression?
What should pain civilized men is the
fact that free public toilets exist in town! An extreme case is one I witnessed
in 2010. It was in Namijimij village, four kilometers outside Moroto Municipality.
Friend, the LC1 of that village had turned a public toilet into his office and
store; meanwhile members fenced the “office and store” with feaces of all structures.
I strongly believe that there is something we can do in order to change this.
Can we seek regional advice from Paul Kagame of East Africa’s smartest country
-Rwanda? Over to you people who are in the things!
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