In 2018, the district council passed the Kitgum Alcohol Control Ordinance which seeks to regulate the production, distribution, sale, and consumption of crude alcohol in the district.
The Kitgum district LCV Chairperson Christopher Obol Arwai says promoting the ordinance follows concerns over the looming hunger, compounded by the excessive abuse of crude waragi which could be disastrous to the population.
Alii Kiseka Ongwech the Pakumu Cell LCI Chairperson, says that they had not received their payments for the last financial year yet their colleagues in other lower local governments had received their pay.
It is alleged that the grassroots officers manning the program are soliciting bribes from different groups in exchange for benefitting from the programme, a new initiative intended to drive households at the parish level into the money economy.
The chairpersons from the 17 sub-counties and two councils say that they have not received their salaries for the last two months without any clear explanation.
The Omiya Anyima Sub County LC III Chairperson, Julius Peter Otto reveals that the majority of the schools were started in the early 90s to help pupils within their localities to attend pre-primary classes due to lack of schools.
Richard Okwera Ojara, the Kitgum Municipal Mayor says the persistent delays in completion of the market construction have worried vendors who have for the past years been operating in makeshift satellite markets and eager to occupy the new market.
The system replaces the physical or manual revenue collection method, which has always been marred by numerous challenges leading to poor revenue collection.
The contractor commenced works in June 2019 and was meant to deliver the project in July this year. However, in April this year, the government extended the contract by five more months until November 30 when the contractor cited inability to deliver the project due to the effects of the first wave of the coronavirus disease-Covid-19.
The decision follows concerns raised by local leaders and technical officials both at the Municipal council and district who say that the building is in a dire state and further attempts to renovate it will put the lives of pupils at risk.
Kitgum District Chairperson Christopher Obol Arwai had presented the nomination of new members of the District Land Board, the District Service Commission, the Hospital Management Board and the Public Accounts Commitee for approval by the district council on Thursday.
During a council meeting held on Thursday, the councillors expressed concern about the delayed recruitment of parish chiefs, which could affect the program. They argued that the parish chiefs should have been recruited by October 30.
The deceased, an elderly man who was referred from a health facility in Pandwong Division reportedly succumbed to COVID-19 complications at about 5 pm on Wednesday. However, his body remained on his death bed for close to 20 hours, until it was handed over to the relatives on Thursday afternoon.
The vaccine delivered by the National Medical Stores-NMS includes 2,324 doses of Moderna vaccines and 390 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines. The district health department ran out of COVID-19 vaccines a week ago following what health officials described as an “overwhelming” uptake of COVID-19 vaccine among the populace.
Patrick Odongtoo, a Health Information Assistant at Mucwini Health Center III and one of those affected by the pay cut, says that his salary has now drastically fallen to a paltry Shillings 316,391 for the last three months.
Kitgum Resident District Commissioner William Komakech told journalists at a press briefing Friday morning that temporary closure of the clinic is to pave way for proper disinfection of the entire health facility.
Kitgum District was allocated 407 million Shillings in July to facilitate the work of the taskforce and implement interventions for the control of Covid-19. The funding would cover expenses on case management, surveillance, communication and risk, among others.
A total of 42 boreholes through the project funded by Lutheran World Federation-LWF is expected to be drilled in the sub-counties of Lagoro, Kitgum Matidi, and Omiya Anyima worth over shillings 200 million.