West Nilers petition gov't over Arua city status
A group of people hailing from West Nile, a sub region in Northern Uganda have backed a resolution to upgrade Arua Municipality into a city
By Henry Sekanjako
A group of people hailing from West Nile, a sub region in Northern Uganda have backed a resolution to upgrade Arua Municipality into a city.
In their petition to the minister for local government, Adolf Mwesige, the group under the umbrella body West Nile foundation also fronted a resolution by the Arua district local government council to expand the boundaries of Arua Municipality to create three new constituencies comprising of Arua South, Arua East and Arua West.
“We believe that the expansion of the municipality will improve the effectiveness and efficiency with which social services shall be delivered,” said city lawyer Calab Alaka the lead petitioner.
According to the petition signed by over 100 people, the petitioners are optimistic that the expansion of Arua Municipality into a city, will not only enable people of Arua reap economies of scale, but also coordinate service delivery as well as share costs equitably to reduce or even eliminate spillovers of service delivery across local boundaries.
“We hope that this plan becomes a reality, we are very supportive of this resolution, it will draw services closer to our people,” said Gordon Obitre a business man from Arua.
Receiving their petition on behalf of Minister Adolf Mwesige, the acting permanent secretary ministry of local government Patrick Mutabwire said upgrading Arua municipality into a city will turn it into a business hub for neighboring countries like south Sudan, DRC among others.
He noted that local government was ready to enforce the proposal as long as parliament passes a resolution for expansion of the municipality.
“We are very supportive about creation of cities, Arua and Mbarara municipalities should be made cities, we have to plan for the future,” said Mutabwire.
Last month, Arua District council passed a resolution for the expansion of the municipality to pave way for the quest for city status.
However a cross section of local leaders from Arua opposed the resolution saying it can only be allowed with the creation of Arua Central as part of the proposed three new constituencies of Arua South, Arua East and Arua West.
Arua is a town in Arua district, with a population of 62,657, Arua town is said to be a base for a large refugee population from South Sudan and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
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