Residents in new sub-county cry foul over service delivery

Although government is mandated to ensure social services to its citizens through the various administrative units, this has not been the case for Kwoti Sub-county in Kapchorwa District in Sebei Sub-region since 2017.

The Ministry of Local Government created Kwot sub-county in 2017 following a resolution by the Kapchorwa District Council in 2015.    

The sub-county was carved out of Kapchesombe Sub-county, which has since been annexed to Kapchorwa Municipality. Daily Monitor has learned that the sub-county, predominantly occupied by the Benet minority group, who resettled in the area in 1983 from Mt Elgon National Park, has since never been operationalised.

As a result, the locals face poor service delivery blamed on, among other issues, oppression and marginalisation as they are denied access to services such as health and education in Kapchorwa Municipality, where they initially belonged.

Mr David Chemutai, the coordinator of the Mosopisyek of Benet indigenous community, said access to social services among the marginalised group is appalling.

“Kwoti Sub-county came into existence on July 1, 2018, but has never been coded by the Ministry of Local Government despite the efforts by the community leaders. This makes its operations impossible,” Mr Chemutai told Daily Monitor on Monday.

He added that In 2020, the district had attempted to employ technical staff, including parish chiefs in Kwoti Sub-county but all were later withdrawn and no clear explanation was given for their withdrawal.

 “We had tried to construct a temporary structure for kickstarting the sub-county but those efforts were frustrated,” Mr Chemutai said.

Daily Monitor has since established that the circus between Kapchorwa Municipality and Kapchorwa District has made it very hard for locals to access better services since neither the municipality nor the district wants to be in charge of the sub-county.

Mr Joseph Cherop, a community member, tasked the district authorities to clarify on the issue of Kwoti Sub- county status.

 “We are having challenges accessing services like good roads, healthcare, education, and clean water, among others. We are suffering in Kwoti without services as if we are not Ugandans,” Mr Cherop said. 

He said the locals are not benefiting from government programmes such as Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga.

Mr Edward Satya Twala, an elder, said in  2021, when they were supposed to hold elections, some political leaders in the district frustrated their efforts to hold elections.

 “Even after the office of the Chief Administrative Officer wrote several correspondences requesting the Electoral Commission to conduct elections in this sub-county, this has not happened,” he said.

Mr Henry Akuson, a former acting Kwoti Sub-county chairperson, said residents have to move long distances to access services either at the municipality or the district.            

A  January 16, 2023 letter signed by the Kapchorwa District chairperson, Ms Everlyn Chebet, addressed to the minister of Local Government, indicates that Kwoti Sub-county was created by the Ministry of Local Government following the right procedures by the district council.

 “I am requesting you to code and operationalise Kwoti Sub-county. Other demarcations for new administrative units in the district will be aligned by the district council in preparation for 2025,” the letter reads.

The Kapchorwa District Woman MP, Ms Phylis Chemutai, said the area has lagged behind in terms of development because it can neither be supported by the district nor the Kapchorwa Municipal Council.

She said some of the roads in poor condition in the area include Kapswewui-Kapchesombe road, Kwono-Titim, Kwoti Trading Centre-Kiringet-Kwono; Chemuron-Chenwach-Kapnobei, among others.

“The area doesn’t have a health centre III and we wonder why the Ministry of Local government has failed to operationalize the sub-county despite approval by the former line minister [Tom Butime],” she said.

However, according to a January 12, 2023 letter signed by Local Government Minister Raphael Magyezi, addressed to the Kapchorwa District chairperson, indicates that the issue of the operationalisation of Kwoti Sub-county will be handled in 2025.

“As a result of my visit to the area and the numerous documents on the need to streamline your local governments, the government shall undertake demarcation of the affected local governments in 2025 in view of fulfilling the pledge of the President to redevelop the area. This shall include the request of Kwoti, which was presented to me by the local leaders during my visit,”the letter reads in part.

The Kapchorwa Municipal Council Town Clerk, Mr Tonny Ogwang, said there is a lot of politics surrounding the issue of Kwoti Sub-county.

“The status quo still stands. That sub-county still falls under the municipality in the Eastern division. The Ministry of Local Government promised to be give them a division within the municipality,” Mr Ogwang said.

The Kapchorwa Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Mr Martin Sakajja, said the issue of the operationalization of Kwoti Sub-county is being handled by the relevant authorities.

“Kwoti belongs to Kapchorwa Municipality but their issues are being handled,” Mr Sakajja said.

Kwoti sub-county, which is located just five kilometres from Kapchorwa Town,  holds a special place in the hearts of some of the world’s best long-distance runners, including Joshua Cheptegei.

Available services

Kwoti sub-county has two government primary schools, Kwoti and Teriet primary schools. The area also has one secondary school - Teriet Seed Secondary School. The area has one health centre, Kwoti Health Centre II, which has never been upgraded for the last 25 years.

Mr Joseph Yeko, an elder, said Kwoti Sub-county, which is located in Benet Mosopisyek Resettlement area, has seven parishes, which he said are too big and need to be redivided as soon as it is operationalised.