Probe collapse of bridges in Tororo

One of the bridges that was washed away in Kalait Sub-county, Tororo District last month. PHOTO / JOSEPH OMOLLO

What you need to know:

  • The issue: Collapsing bridges
  • Our view: The line ministry and other stakeholders should give this issue the attention it deserves. The local governments should be investigated to weed our errors and commissions that deprive citizens of their rights to critical services that infrastructure like bridges provide.

Four months ago, residents of the eastern district of Tororo welcomed with so much optimism the reconstruction of Aderema-Kwapa Bridge, which connects Tororo to the neighbouring districts in Bugisu Sub-region. The locals said the bridge, in Kwapa Sub-county in Tororo District, would accelerate informal trade by linking traders and locals to various markets when completed (see Daily Monitor, April 7).
But that optimism has already been crushed, washed away by floods and replaced with despair even before the Shs50m bridge is officially handed over. Along with the Aderema-Kwapa Bridge, at least six others, including Kanginima in Molo Sub-county, Matawa in Nabuyoga Sub-county, and Angorum in Morukatipe Sub-county, have been damaged before they are even officially in use. (Seven new bridges in Tororo collapse before handover, Daily Monitor, August 4).
But the problem appears not to be isolated as several media reports over the years have indicated that such critical infrastructure in Tororo District keep failing, denying citizens their right to freely seek critical services such as in trade, health, and education.
The construction of bridges, especially one for which the taxpayers have to sweat, involves several technical planning, taking in account its lifespan, the expected traffic, and resistance to flooding, among others. Yet residents, who raised the red flag about the quality of works during the construction, say the bridges were swept away by the very first floods that hit them.
As they citizens wait for another round of budget to cater for the reconstruction of these bridges, they have been cut off from the network of the world around them. Their participation in national and global economy has been negatively impacted, while authorities have already reported a decline in the number of people seeking health services – especially antenatal and deliveries and immunization.
Beyond corruption, there is little else to explain such occurrences. Once is an accident, twice – moreover involving as many as seven bridges – is no accident and someone has to account.
Whereas authorities tend to concentrate a lot of effort in fighting corruption at the national level, the local governments are areas of grave concern. Local governments are the foundation of decentralisation upon which service delivery is effected. They are the bridge between the central government and the taxpayers desire for service delivery.
The line ministry and other stakeholders should give this issue the attention it deserves. The local governments should be investigated to weed our errors and commissions that deprive citizens of their rights to critical services that infrastructure like bridges provide.