District leaders list growth priorities

District chairpersons in Lango Sub-region have come up with ambitious plans to improve service delivery in their five-year term in office.

In various interviews, the leaders seek good health and education systems, access to clean water, good leadership, among others.

Mr David Kennedy Odongo, the Alebtong District chairperson, said priority should be given to roads, since they are a key factor to ensure development, especially as government prepares to implement the Parish Development Model.

“We want to put in place the  right leadership for the people. Without good leadership at the district, sub-county and villages, progress will not be there,” he said on Tuesday.

Mr Odongo also pledged to reduce poverty in Alebtong within five years, adding that this would be achieved through strengthening household incomes, community sensitisation and mindset change.

“And lastly, maximum and effective use of the land. It is not about the size of the land but how productive is the small piece of land you are using to enrich your family,” he said.

The Kole District chairperson, Mr Andrew Moses Awany, tasked the central government to increase road funds.
Mr Awany also pledged to ensure improved performance of schools.

In Kole, one of the challenges affecting education is land conflicts between schools and communities.
“We have given ourselves only a period of two years for all the schools in the district to have land titles,” he said.
Kole District has 178 schools, 52 (nursery), 107 (primary) and 19 secondary schools.

Mr Awany said: “So, we want to support the education system to be in position to function and produce good results. When we work hard, we will be in position to produce good human resources, improve the literacy level and also make sure that the people are empowered.”

Education in Lango  Sub-region has also been hampered by the high level of school dropouts.
Studies show that out of 100 learners who enrol in to Primary One, 60 learners will complete Primary Seven.

“We want our health service delivery in Kole to be functional, effective and sufficient to at least handle the health cases arising,” the district chairperson said.

“At the moment, we are supporting urban centres such as Alito, Bala, Ayer and Aboke town councils with piped water supply systems. We have deliberately put resources to make sure that our urban councils are supported with a piped water supply system. But we are also increasing access to clean water in the communities,” Mr Awany added.
Mr Awany said the ratio of boreholes to people should be made one to 25.

Mr Geoffrey Ocen, the Amolatar District chairperson, said despite the challenge of limited resources, all their health facilities must provide quality services.

“I know there are challenges with medicines but the medical personnel must be there 24/7 Monday to Sunday, day and night to provide even technical guidance on matters of health to the people of Amolatar,” he said.

“Also, under health service delivery, we want to ensure that we recruit vital staff that can help us in this struggle, to ensure that our people get assistance when they visit health facilities.”

He revealed that the administration is closely working with government to upgrade Amolatar Health Centre IV to a district hospital status.

“I’m grateful that through the Office of the Prime Minister, the Amolatar Health Centre IV has been empowered through provision of a brand new ambulance,” Mr Ocen said.

On the issue of access roads, Mr Ocen said they have also written to the central government to provide adequate resources to improve roads.

“Education should also be key. So, we have taken that initiative to ensure that first we recruit the necessary teachers in all schools that can be proportional to the pupils’ ratio,” he said.

The Kwania District chairperson, Mr Geoffrey Alex Ogwal, said : “So, my target is to ensure that the household income for every person in Kwania is improved within five years.” 

He added: “We also want to ensure that our people are healthy so that they are able to work.”
Mr Francis Abola, the Otuke District chairperson, said: “Within the five years, I intend to do four things. I want to work on our roads. In history, you know Otuke has very poor roads.”

He added: “Education is also limping in Otuke, with 45 government-aided primary schools and 11 private primary schools.”

In the 2020 PLE results, the district only got 25 first grades.
“Health facilities in Otuke are also not doing very well. The number of people seeking health services overwhelms the available services in health facilities in terms of medicines and supplies,” Mr Abola said.

Mr James Otto Apili, the Dokolo District chairman, pledged to improve access roads and establish industries.
The Apac District chairman, Mr Asanti Odongo, said: “I will look for investors who are interested in giving our farmers agricultural inputs free of charge, we enter into an agreement, and we agree on the price.”

Mr Richard Cox Okello Orik, the Lira District chairperson, said his administration is working to ensure improvement in the education system.

“Water problem is still there in the district. This is also another area we are looking at. We need to have clean water because water is life,” he said.