Proposed new Gulu district headquarters raises concerns from local leaders

Gulu, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  The proposed new Gulu District Headquarters has raised concern from a section of local leaders. A leaked report compiled by a technical committee led by Gulu District Engineer proposes Cwero Sub County as the new home for the district headquarters.

This comes ahead of the elevation of Gulu Municipality to a city status starting on July 1st, 2020. The current district Headquarters will host the city administration.  The proposal to relocate the district headquarters to Cwero Sub –County hasn’t gone down well a section of local leaders.

They instead want Awac Sub –County to host the new district headquarters considering its strategic location and available social services. Stella Lillian Lallam, the Gulu District Social Services Committee Chairperson, says Cwero Sub –County cannot be the new district headquarters since it isn’t strategically located.

Lallam revealed that they are waiting for the official promulgation of the technical committee report so as to question the parameters used to propose Cwero as the new district headquarters.

Isaac Ojok, the Gulu District Youth Chairperson, says only Awach Sub –County qualifies as the new district headquarters because it already has established facilities like health center IV and learning institutions.

According to Ojok, the assessment done by the technical committee was executed in a rush and exclusion of other stakeholders.

Christopher Opiyo Ateker, the Awach Sub –County Sub County LC V Councilor, says the technical committee report is baseless since Awach Sub –County is the current headquarters of Aswa County.

Opiyo says the technical committee members harbor their own interests other than the interests of the local community.

Francesca Amony, the Pece Division LC V Councilor, says technical committee report shall be scrutinized by the District Executive Committee before its final approval by the district council.

Amony appealed to the general public to stay calm as the report is not final. James Bedijo, the Gulu District Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, says it is too early for councilors to complain about the report since it is only a proposal by the technical committee, saying they will have time to debate it at an appropriate time. 

Bedijo also noted that the technical committee had standard guidelines that they followed to propose Cwero Sub –County as the new district headquarters.

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