Kiboga town council administration offices set ablaze

The Kiboga district police commander Jamail Kanyesigye told New Vision that the fire allegedly caught the offices at around 11am on Saturday night.

 "We received the information of the fire late and by the time the fire brigadier arrived from Hoima, everything had been destroyed, though residents attempted using sand and other things to put out the fire", he said.

He disclosed that investigations were ongoing and that one person, a security guard at the offices called Sabavuma had been arrested to aid investigations.

Kanyesigye ruled out the possibility of electricity being the cause of the fire. He explained that the electricity meter box was normal with no destabilization.

 "We coordinated with UMEME who used their local people with in to disconnect the electricity to save the other surrounding buildings from catching fire," he said.

The police commander said it was suspected that someone intentionally sprayed the building with petrol and set it ablaze.

 The town council LC3 chairperson, Hajji Suleiman Ssekiwunga, said the fire was a serious setback to the town council.

"I won't be deterred from serving my people, I will sit on the mat in the compound here and serve my people because they're the ones who elected me," he said.

 Ssekiwunga appealed to the district and government to act swiftly to ensure that the office space is re-established to finalize the functionality of the town council.

 He disclosed that everything, including important government documents such as budget papers had been lost.

The residents said it was the existing misunderstandings between the political leadership and the civil servants in the town which have resulted into this loss.

One resident, Bumali Nsimbe said: "Since the mayor was elected, the civil servants have worked to frustrate him because they supported predecessor, Matovu Amiringo.

Our mayor is simple, he has ensured a clean town, with no paper bags littered in town as it used to be, garbage is nowhere to be seen and all the drainage systems was unblocked."

Nekemeya Kibuuka, another resident advised the two parties to work together in harmony adding, "What we need is service not unnecessary fights."

The residents pledged to contribute to the reconstruction of the offices to support the town council to re-function again.