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Moroto, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The residents of Katikekile parish in Tapac sub-county, Moroto district, have asked the government to deliver social services.
Katikekile parish has a population of about 300 households, and it lacks services such as an access road network, schools, and a health facility.
The communities have to walk over 20 kilometres to access the health centre II from a nearby parish, 15 kilometres to a community school, while the access roads are completely cut off.
During the spot check, our reporter found that the district leadership tried to grade a road branching from Moroto — Lokitanyala highway, which is only 4 kilometres, leaving a distance of about 10 kilometres leading to the community.
Mariko Loduk, one of the residents, said that the district authorities tried to grade the road but stopped along the way without connecting to the community
Loduk said that they do not have stable access roads and instead have resorted to forming their own in the bushes. He stressed that they face many challenges that need urgent attention from the government.
Margy Nayep, a mother of 5 children, revealed that she delivered all her children through a traditional birth attendant due to a lack of a health facility. Nayep said that she has never attended antenatal care services; instead, she relied on traditional herbal medicine to keep her fetus healthy.
She explained that they never bothered visiting a health facility because there is no access road where a motorcycle can pass when going to the hospital during emergencies.
Nayep called upon the government to consider opening the access road to link them to the nearby parishes where they can access services as they waited for their own.
Alfred Lokiru, a resident of Ariu village, said that they do not have access to roads, health centres and schools for their children.
Lokiru said that the nearby health centre II is in Nakonyen village, which is about 20 kilometres away from their settlement. He also noted that sometimes they find it hard to get boda boda riders due to a lack of access roads.
Lokiru said that it takes those four hours to walk up to the health centre, and sometimes they do not find medicine in the health centre because of the low grade of the facility.
Lokiru also revealed that there is no proper road connectivity, and the community is now using panya routes, while others prefer following the water streams to link them to their respective villages.
Cosmas Ayepa, the Moroto district secretary for social services, emphasised that the community to start the schools from their respective areas of settlement.
Ayepa noted that the communities have been moving from place to place, and the government finds it hard to deliver services to their settlements.
He said that they are encouraging the health workers to carry out the medical camps in the community as they wait for the district to establish a health facility. He also noted that the district is faced with limited resources and which hinders them from delivering better services to the community.
Samuel Lokong, the Principal Assistant Secretary of Moroto District Local Government, said that most of the parts in the district were affected by insecurity, and the population is just settling back after realising some peace.
Lokong noted that the community has occupied the most fertile areas suitable for agriculture, and this would help them improve food security. He acknowledged that the communities lack access roads, health facilities, and a school.
Lokong revealed that the district, through the parish development model, is embarking on the provision of social services and other related services.
He said that they need to decentralise the approach of the parishes to have access to social services, such as water, education, health, access to markets, and the roads that lead to settlements.
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