Andrew Timothy Mangusho (ATM)
Dear Lord Mayor,
I hope this letter finds you well and in good health. As the esteemed leader of our community, we the residents of Barawa have the utmost respect and admiration for the work you have done to serve our municipality. Your dedication and commitment to improving the lives of the people are truly commendable.
However, it is with a heavy heart that I must bring to your attention the appalling state of our roads. For far too long, we have endured the consequences of this neglect, and the time has come for us to voice our concerns in the hope of finding a swift resolution.
The roads in our community have completely deteriorated, forcing our residents to take dangerous diversions through private plots, hence damaging fences, putting lives in danger, and destroying livelihoods. Businesses have crumbled, athletes struggle to train, and hotels employing your voters stand empty due to inaccessibility.
Even our national heroes, such as Joshua Cheptegei, Peruth Chemutai, Victor Kiplangat, and Jacob Kiplimo who live in this part of your city, have attempted to intervene, but their efforts have been futile as they do not have access to the kind of road maintenance machinery that you do.
To our dismay, we have learned that the councilors we elected to represent us at your council are docile and do not seem to understand the plight of our community. Since they have never even addressed us in our WhatsApp forums, we doubt that they have even ever spoken in your honourable council. This is deeply concerning, as we had entrusted them to be our voice and advocate for our needs.
We are well aware that the central government allocates to the municipality one billion Ugandan shillings annually for road maintenance and that the municipality just received the second quarter of this allocation. However, it appears that other parts of the municipality, such as Siron, where you come from, continue to benefit massively, while we in Barawa have not seen a grader or even received a grain of murram since the previous regime.
This inequitable distribution of resources is unacceptable, and we demand a transparent accounting of the one billion shillings allocated and the 250 million shillings received for road maintenance. We insist on seeing tangible progress as soon as tomorrow.
Because our community surely deserves better, our appeal is that you sanction immediate emergency repairs to restore the roads to a safe and passable condition, transparent accounting of the one billion shillings allocated, and address us on the long-term plans for maintenance and upgrade of Barawa’s main road and streets.
As the 2026 political season nears, we will be voting out our councilors, but we are willing to reconsider you if you come to our rescue and address this dire situation. If we do not see meaningful action taken within the shortest time possible, we will be forced to mobilize mass civic action as our patience has been tested for far too long, and we are determined to make our voices heard.
I have attached photos that document the deplorable conditions of our roads, and I hope that these visuals will serve as a stark reminder of the urgency of this situation.
Sincerely,
Denis Moi Kiprotich
The writer is a resident, voter, and governance scholar.
