Manafwa MPs on the spot over poor state of Butiru-Tororo Road

Residents and leaders in Bunabwana Sub-county in Manafwa District have accused their Members of Parliament (MPs) of failing to lobby for the rehabilitation of Butiru-Tororo Road.

In separate interviews with Monitor at the weekend, the residents and leaders said the 8km road, which connects Manafwa District to Namisindwa and Tororo districts, has been in a sorry state for the past 20 years. 

The Salasalo bridge is also located on the road and has not been rehabilitated in the last 20 years, according to the residents and leaders.  

Ms Judith Achom, a resident of Bumisanga South Village in Bunabwana Sub-county, said the government and the legislators have abandoned them. 

“We are living here on our own. The politicians only come here with money when they are looking for votes after that, they wait for another election cycle,” Ms Achom said. 

Mr Bernard Musungu, another resident, said since they were elected in 2021, none of the MPs has ever visited the area and their phone numbers are often switched off when contacted. 

“We write letters through our village chairperson inviting them to attend our community meetings but no one turns up. They hoodwinked us but 2026 is near,” he said.  

Mr Peter Kutosi, another resident, said transportation of sick people including expectant mothers to hospitals is difficult. 

“Recently, a girl who was in labour died while being transported to Tororo hospital,” he said. 

Mr Gerald Bwayo, an opinion leader, said their agricultural produce rot in the gardens due to difficulties in transporting them to markets in Tororo.

Mr Max Iteingino, the councillor representing Buwabula Parish in Bunabwana Sub-county, said the implementation of government programmes such as the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga are likely to fail due to the lack of accessibility to markets and services. 

“We don’t have roads connecting our sub-county to neighbouring sub-counties and to Tororo and Namisindwa districts now. The existing road is impassable and it looks like somebody’s garden. We are totally cut off,” he said. 

Mr Iteingino said they have tried to engage their leaders including Manafwa Woman MP Mary Gorreti Kitutu and Butiru County MP Godfrey Matembu Wakooli but nothing has been done to address the issue. 

“We have leaders who don’t know that they have people staying in this sub-county. That is the problem we are facing and we hope the government realises that there are people on this side and come to our rescue,” he said.

When  Monitor visited the road on Saturday, it discovered that the road has several deep gullies caused by soil erosion.

Mr Isaac Matenda, the Manafwa District speaker, acknowledged the issues raised by the locals, adding that they have budgeted for the road in the coming financial year under the Oil Seed Project funded by the World Bank.  

“The problem has been lack of funds because as a district, we are getting about Shs190 milion as road fund annually,” he said.

He added that the district has a road network of 360km.

Efforts to get a comment on the matter from Ms Kitutu were futile as her phone number was off.
 
However, the LCV chairperson of Manafwa District, Mr Hosea Kigayi Kimono, said Ms Kitutu has worked hard to ensure that the road is given priority. 

“… as I speak, we are in the final stages to work on the road. The contractor has already surveyed the road and is waiting for money to kick start the works,” he said while addressing residents at Bukhadala Primary School in Bukhadala Sub-county at the weekend. 

Mr Wakooli said he has been working round the clock to ensure that the road is worked on.
 
“I am surprised that people are complaining because as area MPs including the minister, we have been pushing to see that the road is worked on,” he said. 

He added: “There is no money from the district that can work on it properly even if you decided to commit Shs1 billion due to its nature. This is why we identified the Oil Seed Project under the World Bank and it was included.” 

Mr Wakooli said they have also increased road funds to a flat figure of Shs1 billion to all districts across the country. 

Other issues affecting BUNABWANA SUB-COUNTY
Mr Gerald Bwayo, an opinion leader, said: “We also have challenges of access to education. In the entire sub-county, we don’t have a government primary school and our children are forced to walk long distances.”

Ms Amina Namutosi, another resident, said they also have no access to clean water and electricity.
 
“The only clean water is on the other side of Tororo but those people also harass us when we go there to fetch water,” she said, adding that waterborne diseases are rampant because of drinking dirty water.
 
The residents also said the sub-county has only three boreholes.