By Oweyegha-Afunaduula
The last time my road from Ikumbya to Nantamali was well surfaced with murram was when my lifelong friend, the late Martin Mukasa Musumba was LC 5 Chairman of Iganga. My District, Luuka was still just a county in Iganga District. Musumba had a small annual budget and did not have the Presidential 1 billion Shillings which LC5 Chairmen get these days and never show the difference between having 1 billion Shillings and not having it: they make the roads the same way they made them before, without gutters and small bridges in swampy areas.
Martin Musumba with his small budget would work on the roads the same way his successors do like before but make a difference to show that the 1 billion Shillings is not wasted. He would surface roads with murram, lay gutters, create channels for running water not to spoil roads, make bridges, and then show accountability for his small budget. Since he left, Iganga District has been bantustanised into Luuka, Namutumba, Bugweri, etc. But the new District leaders cannot explain why they are leaders.
Luuka is perhaps the only huge district which does not have a tarmac road. Since it became a district in 2011, it has been promised to have some tarmac roads, and I hear money for tracking the promised roads has been included in each annual national budget. Fortunate for both the district and national leaders, the wananchi are ever ready to vote for them without asking them for accountability.
Cry My beloved District Luuka, Cry My beloved Country Uganda.
