By KT Reporter
Residents in Napak district have expressed concern over the poor state of the 7-kilometre road that connects Lokopo sub-county to Matany town council.
The road is currently impassable after the torrential rains washed it away. The road users accuse the local leaders of neglecting the road despite several promises to upgrade it. They said that the road does not have a single bridge, and whenever it rains, the road submerges, rendering it impassable.
Robert Loduk, a boda boda rider, said that it is unfortunate to see such bad roads existing, yet they voted for leaders who promised to fix the roads.
Loduk said that the road has been in a poor state for a long time, and it always becomes worse during the rainy season. He pleaded with their leaders to consider fulfilling with what they promised during the previous elections.
“Our leaders promised to work on this road last time during the campaigns. I am wondering why they are not working on it. We need action, not words,” Loduk lamented.
Maria Adiaka, a businesswoman in Matany town council said urged the government to fix the road because they use it to access most of their needs.
Adiaka said that the road is mainly used by people who run businesses in the Matany town council and also to access health services in the Matany hospital. She added that they now spend a lot of money on transport since the motorists use the distant main road.
John Baptist Achilla, another cyclist, said that the poor road network has forced them to use long routes to access the Matany Town Council from Lokopo sub-county. He said that the situation is worse during the rainy season because the water flows fast, blocking the road.
Thomas Otim, a community-based Monitor working with Karamoja Anti-Corruption Coalition, said that most of the issues that affect service delivery have not been given the attention by the authorities.
He highlighted that issues related to infrastructure development, such as in schools, health, and roads, are often reported to the authority, but they hardly take action.
Daniel Korobe, the LCIII Chairperson of Matany Town Council, acknowledged that the road is in a poor state and requires urgent rehabilitation.
Korobe said that the town council does not have funds for repairing the road. He said that they only collect small revenues from the town council, which cannot fix the problem on the said road.
He said that since the road is shared between the two sub-counties of Lokopo and Matany, they would jointly work on the repairs, but they lack resources.
Napak LCV Chairperson, John Paul Kodet, when contacted on the phone, said that the road in the road in question belongs to the sub-county and it is their responsibility to maintain it-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
