Walk the Talk; Arua District Leaders Lobby and Pullout Resources to Construct Death Trap Adumini Bridge in Vurra Sub-county.
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Monday 16-1-2023.
The political, technical and security leaders in Arua District are spearheading a voluntary community initiative to construct Adumini bridge that connects Ayiniva village in Kuluva parish and Ewuata village in Eruba parish in Vurra Sub-county, Vurra Constituency in Arua District.
The bridge also acts as the quickest shortcut road to Muni University and IUIU Campus new branch.
According to the locals in the area that comprise both Alur and Lugbara, the dilapidated bridge has drowned some people to death and others survived with injuries when it flooded during rain season.
The Arua District Deputy RDC Mr Ezama Ham Mizamil who was the first government official welcomed by the communities to launch the meeting and construction work of the bridge on 17-9-2022 gave Shs 100,000 and also pledged 100 Liters of fuel towards construction of the bridge.
He however told the communities on that date 17-9-2022, that, it is not good for the government to see communities fundraising money to cater for social services like bridges, boreholes, roads, schools and so on, henceforth undermining the capabilities of the government.
Speaking to this online publication blog team earlier on 16-1-2023, the Deputy RDC thanked the communities of that area for being patriotic by volunteering themselves to do such works when government has not come to their rescue.
The Deputy RDC Mr Ham also praised his senior (RDC) Mr Okiswa Geoffrey, LC5 Chairman Alfred Okuonzi, entire political and technical leadership of Arua District for embracing the initiative of those communities.
The Arua District LC5 Chairman Hon Alfred Okuonzi said, last week he traveled to Kampala with one Engineer from the District and he was able to lobby for good quality culverts worth 18 million Shs from ministry of works and transport.
The LC V Chairman echoed the same statement like Deputy RDC Ham, and said, the policies of local government and central government do not permit community fundraising for such projects in any District, that is why he had to lobby for these culverts.
He advised the community members to embrace construction of the bridge by offering unskilled laborers to speed up the process.
Hon Alfred Okuonzi before summarizing his speech, affirmed fulfillment of a pledge he made during 2021 general election campaigns to install a Billboard at the boarder between Arua City and Arua District where travellers on the highway road will not get confused.
The District Roads Inspectors Engineer Afimani Simon said, they received a cry of the communities through a letter which was delivered to the District.
He noted that, they had done a quotation as District Engineering department to ascertain how much money would it cost for the construction of the bridge, which he said is up to the tune of over 20,000,000 Shs.
Engineer Afimani thanked the LC V Chairman Hon Alfred Okuonzi for lobbying those culverts worth 18,000,000 Shs.
The secretary for works and social services, Hon Candini Luiji said, the culverts lobbied by the LC5 Chairman were supposed to be transported to the site on Saturday 14-1-2023 but he had to hault its transportation on fears that, some bad elements in the public may steal it away before its work starts.
He urged the communities to reward these hardworking Councillors and District leaders by voting for them come 2026 to 2031.
Hon Candini in his closing remarks, castigated some politicians in Arua District who are defeated by work in Parliament and they have now resorted to spreading propaganda and lies amongst the communities, adding that, people should not vote for such politicians again come 2026 general elections, a speech gleefully accepted by the communities who cheered and clapped for him with joy over that statement.
The Resident District Commissioner (RDC) for Arua, Mr Okiswa Geoffrey said, when we talk about social economic development, emyooga and PDM, all these need roads that will ease transportation of goods to the market.
He averred that, roads in a sorry state like this Adumini bridge can be source of a big insecurity in two ways;
1. Somebody may get accident and he dies, like it happened on this very bridge (may his soul rest in peace).
2. It can also turn to be a spot for thieves to target and rob people at the bridge, knowing that its dilapidated state will reduce the speed of motorcycles 🏍 and vehicles 🚘 when traveling.
Mr Okiswa appealed for three things from the communities in that area;
1. Maintenance of this community access road after its construction is completed, hinting that, we have some unpatriotic people amongst the communities who choose to destroy these kinds of developments, warning that, as head of security in the District, he is going to be unfriendly to such people.
2. Guard against corruption.
The RDC thanked the locals for fundraising shs 1,500,000 for construction of the bridge but advised them to guard against corruption, stressing that, there might be some corrupt people here whose brains are looking for ways on how they can embezzle part of those monies being mobilized for that particular purpose of the bridge.
Through the LC V Chairman, Mr Okiswa appealed for sacrifice, dedication from the political and technical staffs of the District.
3. Productivity.
The resident district commisoner emphasized on productivity through venturing into commercial agriculture and other lucrative businesses that can boost the financial muscle of the community members and their families.
He urged the wananchi to embrace Parish Development Module (PDM) in order to alleviate poverty in their families.
To add on what the communities, Deputy RDC Mr Ham Mizamil and other District officials have done, RDC Mr Okiswa Geoffrey pledged fuel as one of his contributions into Adumini bridge construction project.
The District Internal Security Officer (DISO) for Arua District, Mr Emmanuel Amaku applauded the District officials for coordination & unity.
He also thanked the community members for volunteering in such initiatives.
Mr Emmanuel who is head of intelligence in the District urged the civilians to cooperate with them (intelligence officers) on matters that may be a security threat to the communities and the country at large.
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