UKUSIJIONI RESIDENTS EXCITED ABOUT 1.5 BILLION USMID-AF COMPLEX RESOURCE CENTER COMPLETION.

By Bazio Doreen and Ronald Debo (Aulogo FM).

Residents of Ukusijioni Sub-County, Adjumani District are excited about completion of the construction of a well-established Resource Center in Kiraba Parish worth 1.5 billion shillings, funded by the World Bank - IDA through Uganda Support to Infrastructure Development-Additional Funding –USMID-AF refugee window.

According to the Project Clerk of Works, John Paul Kalamoi, who represents the District Engineer and does daily supervision of the works, the Resource Centre will be handed over by the end of February 2024.

Paul also says that major works left on the project include: kitchen fittings, supply of furniture, painting of the gate, compound leveling, tree planting and greening of the compound.

According to Mindra Francis, the Sub County Chief, the Resource Center is expected to offer space for various activities that include library, conferences and workshops, wedding parties and council businesses among others.

“I have heard many people say that the resource centre was built in the bush but as the sub county leadership we have plans to make better use of it. The centre will be well furnished for hosting all big events in the sub county,” Francis explains.

Hon. Dominic Arambe, the LC III Chairperson of the Sub County, is also optimistic that the facility will transform lives of members of the communities since it is the first of its kind in Adjumani District.

Arambe also observes that his Sub County is reaping big from accepting to host a great number of the refugees and live harmoniously with them.

“My Sub County has the biggest settlement in Adjumani. I believe that having Maaji I, II and III has come with some benefits for the host community,” Arambe observes.

Mansur Alumai, a resident of Bikeri Village in Ayiri Parish, as residents, they are excited about the Resource Centre since its inception and are very willing to partake of programs and activities that will be unfolding at the facility.

“Both the District and the Sub County have been engaging the community about the progress of the construction through different meetings and this has helped us own the project,” Alumai boasts.

Patrick Nyanda, another resident from Kiraba Central Village, also says that if well managed, the centre can be used as a youth centre and this can in turn help to drive idleness and youth unemployment out of Ukusijioni.

“In Ukusijioni Sub County, we lack a place where youth can meet and interact with each other towards development. Besides, most times youth engagement that is frequent takes place through NGOs. Therefore, having a resource centre gives a big opportunity for transition when NGOs leave,” Nyanda says.

Meanwhile, the resource Center sits on a six acre piece of land offered by Paulino Mamgbwi, the landlord of Kiraba clan. Mamgbwi says he is delighted to see value for the land he offered and now appeals to the people of Ukusijoni Sub-County to embrace the development by owning the project so that it transforms lives for the better as he envisioned. The construction project is being undertaken by Weko Engineering Consultants Limited and is at 93% progress.

The Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program is designed as a Program-for-Results (PforR) program building on the Local Government Management and Service Delivery (LGMSD) program- a performance base grant (PBG) program which was piloted by the Bank under the first LG Development Program (LGDP I) in selected districts and later scaled nationally to cover the entire LGs system in Uganda with funding from the Bank and other development partners.

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