Tororo parish gets first health centre
Tororo municipality Member of Parliament, Mr Yeri Apollo Ofwono [second right] and the mayor, Mr Kennedy Orono Nyapidi on his right and other municipal council officials during the site handover on July 9, 2024. Photo by Joseph Omollo.
What you need to know:
- The mayor said the health facility is part of the broader Tororo Municipal Council’s strategic interventions towards ensuring a healthy population, capable of contributing to community development.
There were ululations and jubilations in Nyangole parish Eastern Division of Tororo Municipality as residents welcomed the construction of the first ever health facility in the area.
During the handover of the site to the Uganda Peoples' Defense Forces [UPDF] Engineering Brigade the sourced contractor, Tororo Municipality Mayor, Kennedy Orono Nyapidi apologized to residents over the delay in responding to health needs in the area but attributed it to delay by the ministry of health in approving their requests.
He said under the arrangement, the Ministry of health under Primary Health Care (PHC) has allocated 450 million shillings towards the construction of a fully fledged health centre III.
"We are aware of the challenges that you people have been facing in abide to access health services but already we had placed our request to the ministry of health. Let's go by the English phrase ‘’better be late than never’’ and there you are," Mr Orono said.
He added that the development is part of the efforts to strengthen healthcare in the area by prioritizing accessible, quality and efficient delivery of services to advance universal health.
The mayor said the health facility is part of the broader Tororo Municipal Council’s strategic interventions towards ensuring a healthy population, capable of contributing to community development.
The other ongoing project is the construction of Kasoli health centre II which the council is relocating after it was affected by the Standard Gauge Railway plans.
Meanwhile, Tororo Municipality area Member of Parliament, Mr Yeri Apollo Ofwono, appealed to the engineering brigade to execute the work as per the bill of quantity and structural plans.
"Like we have witnessed elsewhere, the engineering brigade has done wonderful work in terms of quality and adherence to the time and we continue to advocate for that spirit,’’ he appealed.
He challenged council authorities to ensure that they closely monitor the construction works and cautioned the municipal council leadership against unnecessary bureaucracies, which he says, frustrate investments and the area’s development opportunities.
Mr Yeri advised the contractor to work with the local leadership and ensure that some employment opportunities are offered to the people of Tororo municipality aware that most of them have benefited from the skills development programme.
“I urge the contractor to ensure that the people of Tororo are employed during the execution of the project,” Mr Yeri advised the contractor.
According to the town clerk, Mr Moses Lorika, the construction will have components of a general maternity ward, 2-unit staff quarters, four stance-lined VIP latrines, medical waste pit, a maternity pit and the out-patient department.
He said the construction will be done in phases due to limited resources.
He said the project is a grand opportunity for the area, whose population is steadily increasing due to urbanization especially after the Standard Gauge Railway affected many people in Kasoli and Amagoro parishes.
"Tororo Municipal Council being the employer will play its role of supervision and monitoring to ensure that there is value for money in both two sites Nyangole and Kasoli'' said the town clerk.
