Prime
Museveni directs on stalled Luweero district office block
What you need to know:
Efforts by Luweero leaders to make a follow-up on the district headquarter building pledge have never yielded fruit despite the repeated reminders.
Luwero. President Museveni has directed the Minister for Local Government to schedule the stalled construction of Luweero District administration block, Daily Monitor has established.
In a letter dated March 25 signed by the Principal Private Secretary to the President, Ms Molly Kamukama, the minister for Local Government was directed to scrutinise a letter written by the Luweero District chairperson, Mr Ronald Ndawula, complaining about a delayed presidential pledge in constructing the district offices that had not been fulfilled for more than two decades.
“This is to inform you that his Excellency the President directed that you bring the matter of the Luweero District headquarters’ building to Cabinet for discussion. The purpose of this letter is to therefore communicate the directive for your management,” Ms Kamukama’s letter to the minister reads in part.
Official records at Luweero District offices indicate the district administration block construction pledge is among the unfulfilled pledges made by the President to the people of Luweero 27 years ago.
“For the district headquarter block, it was not only a pledge, but a compensation which I believe Luweero deserved,” Mr Ndawula said in an interview on Tuesday.
While touring government projects in Luweero District in 1991, President Museveni pledged to have Luweero District compensated through construction of a modern office block to house the district administration headquarters.
The pledge was in response to concerns raised by the district leaders about the buildings that were taken over by the army.
Efforts by Luweero leaders to make a follow-up on the district headquarter building pledge have never yielded fruit despite the repeated reminders.
Mr Ndawula said Luweero has become a laughing stock with many Opposition politicians castigating the NRM ruling government for neglecting the area.
Luweero was the epicentre of the five-year guerrilla war that ushered Mr Museveni’s government to power in 1986 and the area has largely been loyal to Mr Museveni through contributing to his vote pool and electing ruling party representatives at various levels.
“We have no direct answers to give to our opponents when they use the unfulfilled pledges as a political capital to undermine the efforts by President Museveni to transform Uganda and the people of Luweero. We are happy that for the first time, the President is making a direct intervention to have this matter put to rest,” Mr Ndawula said.
In 2008, the then district chairperson, Mr Abdul Nadduli, currently serving as Minister without Portfolio, said government through the Office of the Prime Minister had requested Luweero District to come up with a detailed plan and documentation on the presidential pledge for the office block so that government comes up with a formal plan. By the time Mr Nadduli left office in 2015, government had not yet responded.
Last year, the district authorities mobilised for construction materials from well-wishers and friends of Luweero to embark on the construction of Shs4.5b office block. More than Shs200m was raised to have the foundation of the office block.
However, construction works have stalled for more than 9 months with the district leaders complaining over lack of funds to continue with the project.
A 2015 report by the parliamentary Committee on Government Assurances indicated that the President had not delivered on 817 pledges since coming to power in 1986.