Hundreds protest against district resolution in Rubanda
Residents of Hamuhambo Town Council during the peaceful demonstration December 6. PHOTO/ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
- Hamuhambo TC LC III Mr Aggrey Bandiho accused the Rubanda District council of hijacking the community water project and threatened legal action.
Over 300 Rubanda District locals Monday staged a peaceful demonstration protesting a “planned deal by the district council to handover the Bushura community water project to national water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC) for management.”
“Residents can’t afford the monthly bills. Why do they want us to pay for clean water” one protestor chanted.
The peaceful demonstration in Hamuhambo Town Council comes days after area councillors Mr Diaz Owoyesigyire and Girian Tusingire November 27 petitioned the solicitor general highlighting irregularities as Rubanda District authorities passed a resolution that the Shs6billion Bushura water project, with works at 70% now, be handed over to NWSC.
Hamuhambo TC LC III Mr Aggrey Bandiho accused the Rubanda District council of hijacking the community water project and threatened legal action.
“This community water project was started in 2019 with an objective of availing clean piped water to the locals. About Shs600million has been injected in the project. Council’s decision was unlawful,” he said.
Councilors Mr Owoyesigyire and Ms Tusingire questioned the procedure in which the project was discussed in the district council on November 19 yet it was not on the order paper of the council that day.
“This was in bad faith. We later learnt that it was a punishment to the people in the area because they did not vote for the current LCV chairman Mr Stephen Kasyaba,” Mr Owoyesigyire claimed.
The district Councilor for Hamuhambo Town Council Mr Diaz Owoyesigyire displays a petition he filed at the solicitor general's office in Kampala to the demonstrators in Rubanda District on December 6. PHOTO/ROBERT MUHEREZA
The Rubanda LCV chairman Mr Stephen Kasyaba said the project handover followed insufficient funding at the district.
“This project requires about Shs6billion for completion yet Rubanda District has only Shs7billion in the annual budget for infrastructure development. There is no way we would allocate almost all the district annual budget on infrastructure development in one sub-county yet we have 17 others,” Mr Stephen Kasyaba said.
Describing the Council’s resolution as ‘in order,’ Mr Kasyaba vowed to defend the resolution.
“The district council will enter into a memorandum of understanding with NWSC to supply a 20- litres of water to community members at Shs25 because the district has already injected a lot of money into the project,” he disclosed.
