Angry residents of Bardege Division in Gulu Municipality have forced the Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Betty Aol Ocan to trek for three kilometers in protest over the poor state of their roads.
The LOP had paid an impromptu visit to the people who had gathered at Gulu Municipal council offices Monday morning demanding for answers about bad roads in their area. The angry residents had earlier on blocked the five-kilometer Oola Lubara road, which connects Gulu town to St Marys Hospital Lacor via Gulu airfield and Gulu Archdiocese Cathedral.
The residents led by the area LC III chairperson, Patrick Oola Lumumba tasked Aol, who also doubles as Gulu Woman MP to step out of the comfort of her vehicle and walk with them so as to get the feel of the bad state of the road, which they say has lasted for close to six years.
The residents walked with the legislator from the Gulu Municipal council offices up to the residence of Yusuf Adek Okwonga, the Pageya clan chief, about three kilometers away. Paul Onyegiu, one of the residents, says the road has been impassable for over six years especially during the rainy seasons but their leaders remain silent about the matter.
Aol, who was dressed in a light green gomesi and shiny black shoes moved for over two hours in the company of her four bodyguards who all ended up with muddy shoes and dirty clothes. She told URN at the chief's palace that she accepted to move in solidarity with the suffering people whose plight for better services hasn't been addressed.
Earlier the residents used vehicles tyres, boulders and logs to block the road. They also mockingly planted crops on the road, arguing that it has become a garden. They later moved to the Gulu Municipal Council office from where the Gulu municipal engineer, Terence Okwonga assured them that the road will be upgraded to tarmac next year in January at Shs 6 billion.
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