Amusing info emanating from Mafubira in Busoga region indicate that  locals are up in arms with Minister Daudi Migereko for seeking to have the sub-county turned into a Town Council.

The development will see Kira Mayor Mamerito Mugerwa growing envious pimples. He has fought for years to have the line ministry extend him a Town Council Status, yet here are Mafubira locals rejecting the same.

The tag of war is based on Mafubira locals’ fear that the new status will see their land value shooting up thereby attracting land grabbers and the scramble for land, leaving them landless.

Migereko, one of the MPs from the area, lodged a petition with his Local Government colleague Adolf Mwesigye, seeking the Town Council Status that has instead brought him into his constituents firing range.

After labouring to lecture to his constituents, for purposes of making them see sense in the new status, Migereko today took the line minister Mwesigye to Mafubira, to help him do the explanation to the highly sceptical locals.

Saying many sub-counties elsewhere were dying to clinch the Town Council status, Mwesigye taunted locals of Mafubira for rejecting the ‘God sent’ chance.

"I have many applications for Town Council Status, yet here you are rejecting one that has been sought by your MP!" Mwesigye mocked the locals.

If it was not for his colleague Migereko, Mwesigye pointed, the locals ridiculous opposition would have saved him the bother of granting them the Town Council status because it costs government lots of funds.

He explained that the Town Council status comes with special funding, tarmacked roads and street lighting, among other goodies, wondering why the Mafubira locals were rejecting such development.

On the locals' fears that they stood to lose land to people with money, who are capable of putting up good structures to the Town Council's standards, Mwesigye told them even in the country's Kampala city there are slums with mud and wattle houses standing alongside skyscrapers.

"Kampala did not wait for the mud and wattle structures to be got rid of to develop. Because you are poor, you cannot stop development from coming where you are. In fact you will reap from the obvious benefits that come with the Town Council Status," Mwesigye added.

Mwesigye told the locals that even jump up in the value of land will be a blessing in disguise because their securities will be able to attract reasonable credit from banks, among other benefits.

Migereko undertook to give more lectures to his people, saying he would not want to be understood as forcing the Town Council on them for ulterior motives.

 

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