Lack of electricity in Bulumbi Sub-county in Busia District is hampering health services, limiting business activity and contributing to insecurity, with residents calling for urgent extension of power to the area.
Residents want the government to connect electricity to government-aided schools, health facilities and trading centres, saying the prolonged delay has contributed to a backlog in development.
The concerns were raised today during a thanksgiving ceremony for Stephen Mayende Awangale, who was elected unopposed as the district councillor representing Bulumbi Sub-county.
Bulumbi is among several areas in Busia District with limited or no electricity connections. Other affected areas include Buyanga and Masafu sub-counties and parts of Buhehe Sub-county.
Juliet Nabulindo Mangeni, a resident, said the lack of electricity is affecting health services, with medical workers sometimes attending to mothers giving birth at night using candles.
Joseph Magero, another resident, said the lack of electricity is also affecting businesses that operate in the evening. He said traders lose business because they are forced to close early, while some also lose their products to theft because of darkness.
Magero said extending electricity to the area would help address most of the challenges facing residents.Stephen Mayende Awangale, the district councillor representing Bulumbi Sub-county, said the entire sub-county remains without electricity despite power lines being visible along the Busia-Jinja highway.
Mayende said the government should at least prioritise electricity connections to schools and health facilities. Barbra Nekesa Oundo, the chief guest at the thanksgiving ceremony, urged residents to continue working to improve their livelihoods as they wait for the government to address the electricity challenge.
Samia Bugwe North MP John Paul Wandera said he would follow up with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development and other relevant offices to have Bulumbi included in the rural electrification programme.
The Minister of State for Energy and Mineral Development, Phiona Nyamutoro, said last week that the government is awaiting financing to expand electricity connections.
Speaking to journalists during her visit to Tiira Town Council, Nyamutoro said the government had already presented to Parliament the status of electricity access in the country and was awaiting financing for further connections, including last-mile connections-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
