Ntoroko District | Minister of Local Government, Hon. Barugahara Balaam Ateenyi, was today cut off by agitated residents of Ntoroko District while he was heading to Bundibugyo for an anti-corruption campaign.
The Minister’s convoy was intercepted along the main road, where residents said they could not let him pass without hearing their long-standing grievances about poor service delivery.
At the center of the complaints was waste management. Locals decried heaps of garbage dumped openly on the main road and a huge pile near the central market that they say has been rotting there for three years without collection.
“For three years we have lived with this garbage near the market. We sell food here, we live here. The stench is too much but the council does not care,” a vendor told the Minister.
The residents also raised a second, more emotional complaint about the market itself. According to them, government delayed to construct the market and they mobilized as a community and built it on their own. Now, they allege, the town council is overcharging them with exorbitant dues and daily fees.
“We constructed this market ourselves with our own money. Now the council that did not help us is overcharging us every day. Where is the justice?” one of the market leaders said.
Hon. Balaam, who was traveling for the anti-corruption campaign in Bundibugyo District, was forced to halt his journey and turn the roadside into an impromptu public baraza.
Responding to the concerns, the Minister said such complaints are exactly why the anti-corruption drive is needed.
“This is what corruption and negligence look like. Garbage on the main road, and people in the market being exploited. This is why I am going to Bundibugyo to preach against corruption, but I find the same problem here in Ntoroko,” Hon. Balaam said.
He immediately called the Town Mayor and the Resident District Commissioner (RDC) to come to the scene and explain to the residents.
