Opposition tour exposes service delivery gaps in NRM’s ‘Mecca’

Poor service delivery coupled with a chain of unfulfilled government pledges is a form of injustice to the people in Greater Luweero, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament (LoP) has said.

Mr Mathias Mpuuga, in company of a section of Opposition Members of Parliament, have concluded a two-day tour of government programmes in Luweero and Nakaseke districts where they have encountered many land wrangles, a poor road network, poor school infrastructure, inadequate supplies in health centres and disgruntled Bush War veterans still seeking compensation.

“It is not disputed that a bigger section of the infrastructure is in a poor shape. The overwhelming number of people that are being denied their respective rights to own land by people that claim to be highly placed in government is among the many injustices,” he told a stakeholder meeting at Luweero District headquarters on Tuesday.

There are villages threatened with eviction while many people have already been evicted from their respective land.

Eviction threats
“Recently, the country was shocked to learn about an 84-year-old woman remanded in prison over land related disputes. These ugly scenes send a sense of hopelessness in our people. But the government has the means to stop many of the mentioned challenges,” Mr Mpuuga said. 

In Manyama Village, Zirobwe Sub-county, where more than 60 households are threatened with eviction, the Luweero District Woman MP, Ms Brenda Nabukenya, revealed that while Lands Minister Judith Nabakooba visited the contested land and directed that a status quo be maintained, the landlord has ignored the directives.

“It is sad that the helpless residents are bounced at the different offices, including the police, where they hope to get justice. A landlord claims to be above the law and has vowed to evict the residents despite the advice from the Minister for Lands,” she said.

In Lukooge Village, Katikamu Sub-county, Mr Ronald Kafeero, the chairperson, claimed that more than 60 households are on the verge of losing their land.

Mr Denis Ssekabira, the Katikamu North MP, said the unfulfilled pledges and poor state of the infrastructure could be deliberate, claiming that some individuals within the NRM government hate Greater Luweero even though it served as a launch pad for the five-year Bush War that brought President Museveni to power.

“When you find children in an urban centre in  Luweero sitting on the floor as they attend lessons, then the conditions in many of the rural based schools are worse. Luweero Boys Primary School is located within Luweero Town Council. More than 1,000 pupils share about 150 desks,” Mr  Ssekabira said in an interview on Wednesday.

Mr Burton Bbumba, the head teacher of Luweero Boys Primary School, revealed they have few skilled teachers to attend to the more than 100 children with special needs.

“We only have to train teachers. The other teachers are learning on the job and are not in position to adequately handle the special needs children,” he told the LoP.

But NRM Director for Information and Mobilisation Emmanuel Dombo refuted the allegation about a deliberate plan to deny people of Greater Luweero better services.

“I am not privy to their findings, but I refute the allegation of a deliberate plan to deny the people of Luweero services. It is true that the road infrastructure has been a big challenge but the NRM government has already kick started several infrastructure programmes for Greater Luweero,” he said.

At Kikamulo Health Centre III, the maternity section and the Outpatient Department (OPD) are approximately one kilometre apart, compromising service delivery.

“The officer-in-charge of the facility and a section of the staff have to walk the long distance between the OPD and maternity. When the drug store and a section of the emergency facilities, including the laboratory, are separated, the service delivery chain is compromised,” Mr Mpuuga said while inspecting the facility on Monday.

Earlier, Nakaseke District Senior Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Ramathan Kasozi revealed the shortage of classroom blocks at some  primary schools while 55 percent  of the health staff stay outside their respective work stations.

“You have seen for yourselves the bad roads in this area. All this is a result of inadequate funding. The decentralisation system has now been recentralised. Our local revenue expenditures are now determined by the central government,” Mr Benjamin Makanga, the Nakaseke Secretary for Works, remarked.

But Mr Mpuuga told the district leaders that Parliament had resolved that local revenue collection remains with the respective local governments.

“There is no big reason as to why revenue is collected centrally while the local governments get suffocated on the service delivery programmes, it doesn’t make sense,” he said.

At Luweero General Hospital, the management is overwhelmed by large patient numbers and lack of space, with the facility recently upgraded to district hospital status also lacking an emergency unit.

“We have an annual OPD attendance of 53,196 patients while the patient admission was at 11,179 for the year 2022. The high patient turn up numbers and lack of critical staff, including specialists, affect the service delivery,” Dr Steven Magere, the hospital medical superintendent, revealed.

Dr Innocent Nkonwa, the district health officer, said they hope that the 100-bed ward building under construction will solve the problem of space.

“The ward construction is in a phased manner since the funding follows the same procedure. This is a big challenge since we had to start using the ground floor and first floor of the block due to limited space,” he said.

Progress on roads
On a positive note, the legislators were informed that President Museveni is today expected to commission the 29.72km Luweero-Butalangu Road upgrade from gravel to tarmac.

The project  funded by the Arab Bank for Economic Development  of Africa (BADEA) and the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at a cost of $24.65 million (about Shs92 billion ) is expected to be completed in 2025.

 “While we have several challenges as people in Greater Luweero, this road will provide a great opportunity,” Luweero Deputy RDC Mariam Kaberuka revealed.

But Luweero District chairperson Erasto Kibirango rallied the legislators to push for tarmacking of Kabimbiri- Zirobwe-Wobulenzi (34km) road earlier pledged by President Museveni in 2010.
“This road is a major link between Kayunga, Mukono and the Greater Luweero districts,” he said.