Otuboi: Teso’s urban jewel setting pace for other urban councils

View of Otuboi town council, situated on northern highway. PHOTO/SIMON PETER EMWAMU

What you need to know:

With the upgrade from murram to tarmac in 2010, Otuboi became an attraction for business as lodging facilities started to emerge and a couple of businesses cropped up.

KALAKI: Teso has a handful of town councils with opportunities to exploit, such as Otuboi town council situated northwest of Soroti District along the northern highway. It is a fast developing town council setting pace for others with few cases of crime to call apart from emerging instances of prostitution as result of truck drivers spending nights here.

Otuboi which sits on an elevated landscape, is inundated by seasonal swamps from both the east and west, its urban population of 10,660 is settled along the highway running for close to one kilometer, its old structures always beautified with routine facelift of paint, a couple of new raising storeyed and commercial houses being built portray the economic importance people have seen in Otuboi.

It is lately a home to a number of dialects, Iteso, Kumam, Langi, Luganda, Lugisu and Acholi speakers, all making exploits from opportunities which Otuboi town council offers.

Mr Julius Peter Opejo, area LC I for Akisim ward, Otuboi town council says there is a rush for space for development from people within and outside Teso, tagging this demand to the hospitality among the indigenous Iteso who occupy Otuboi town council notwithstanding its location on the northern highway.

He says  about 10 years ago, Otuboi town resembled a ghost town, but when the northern highway from Soroti town was ugraded from murram to tarmac in 2010, Otuboi became an attraction for business as lodging facilities started to emerge , and a couple of businesses cropped up, adding that no wonder when Kalaki was granted district status three years ago, everyone anticipated to have had the district headquarters housed in Otuboi but the politics of the day didn’t allow, instead the headquarters were taken to Kalaki town council.

Mr Opejo views Otuboi as “a jewel to be”, arguing that several businesses ranging from foodstuff, hardware, motorbike spare parts, lodging facilities have taken shape and are not struggling like it’s for other town councils in the region.

“We are well placed and surrounded by four districts, Kaberamaido, Dakolo, Amuria and Alebtong, this has given Otuboi an impetus ,as people from districts neighbouring us, find Otuboi convenient to buy merchandise from wholesalers,” he explains.

Mr Opejo adds that the developmental strides which Otuboi has seemingly seen, have now raised the prices for plots, with prices varying from Shs8.5m to as much as Shs25m for commercial developers along the highway, while the second street a plot goes for Shs15m.

In spite of all these strides, urban crime in our town remains mild. There are hardly any cases of robbery, breaking into houses, the only issue the townspeople have to contend with is the growing number of sex workers taking advantage of truck drivers who spend nights at Otuboi. Sometimes, the truckers whisk away the girls all the way to Sudan and Central Africa and only deliver them back on their return journey.


Trade hub

Ms Christine Akello, one of wholesaler businesspersons dealing in household items, says the presence of a weekly cattle market at Otuboi is also another factor playing to Otuboi’s advantage. Businessmen dealing in cattle start trekking as early as Wednesday ahead of the cattle market which takes place on Saturday.

She says there is money in circulation from South Sudanese traders and people from Buganda who flock there to buy animals for city dwellers in Kampala and Juba.

The only challenge is water scarcity, given that the water reservoir located at Otuboi police station is too small to meet the demand of the 10,660 people settled here.

The area LCIII chairperson Otuboi town council, Anthony Ejangu, says the lodging facilities have increased from three to 10, adding that as a town council, these lodging facilities remit taxes for the running of council activities.

Mr Ejangu adds that about 10 people acquired plots intended for development for commercial activities, “That tells you the economic prospects people have seen in Otuboi,” he says, adding, “Otuboi’s problem is water, we have been in contact with the district leaders but they tell us for now the district will not grant Otuboi borehole sources.”

With a population of 10,660, Otuboi town council requires a constant supply of water for both the urban dwellers, and the nine private and government teaching institutions.