Jinja residents decry lack of streetlights

JINJA- Residents of Jinja are worried by the increased cases of sexual violence due to lack of streetlights on major roads within the municipality.

This follows police records indicating that, “few cases of rape are reported while many go unnoticed”.

Roads such as Radio, Gabula, Kisinga, Waibale, Muvule Crescent, Bridge Street, Batambuze, Magwa and others in Old Boma Village have been singled out as the most unsafe to walk through at night.

Residents fear these roads are being taken advantage of by street children and marauding drug addicts to rape women and maim men.

Ms Sharon Nairubi, a resident of Jinja municipality, said her colleague was a few weeks ago gang-raped in the middle of the road and left unconscious by unknown thugs.

“Several others have been raped but end up not reporting to the police as they prefer to be silent and only seek medical attention,’’ she said.

Ms Joan Nabirye, another resident of Jinja municipality, said she survived an attempt when her assailants fled as an oncoming vehicle approached the scene.

Mr John Isabirye, also a resident of Jinja, said owners of the buildings are rationing their electricity by turning off their security lights at night because they use prepaid metres. This, he says, leaves the town in total darkness.

Authorities speak out

The Jinja Town Clerk, Mr Jofram Waidhuuba, on Tuesday said street lighting has become a challenge and has turned some areas into no-go zones during certain periods, especially at night.

He added that city councils must be given street lighting subsidies if they are to improve security on their streets.

“We need 24 hour street lighting not only for security purposes but because a town must be different from a village,’’ he said.

Under the Local Government Act, authorities have a duty to maintain street lighting through funding generated from local revenue.

However, the Jinja municipality speaker, Mr Moses Bizitu, said they cannot afford that since their revenue collections reduced after the government handed over the taxi park collection fees to Uganda Revenue Authority yet it was their biggest source of revenue.