The Entebbe Municipality Town Clerk has revealed that council is in the process of developing a strategic five-year plan to address cleanliness and accessibility among other things.
The Entebbe Municipality Greening and Beautification Plan according the new Town Clerk Mr Emmanuel Mugisha Gakyaro is one of his three priorities as he settles in office.
Mugisha who assumed office on March 1st, 2023 taking over from Charles Magumba who had served there since 2016, said Entebbe is a unique town with a rich history and a cosmopolitan outlook whose environment had to bring out its status.
In an exclusive interview with Gateway news reporter since he assumed office, the officer said three issues made his priorities, namely, Greening, Beautification and revenue enhancement for the council.
The council’s physical planning committee, he said, had already met and agreed to draw the five-year plan to guide the greening and beautification works. It will be implemented in phases due to lack of enough financial resources.
The plan would include beautifying the municipality’s open spaces, lighting the streets, road works, improving refuse/ garbage management and disposal.
“Specifically, I will be interested in a clean town. Good thing my Mayor is also interested in this. I would like to see us improving the cleanliness and improving the infrastructure,” he said.
Stakeholders including the community and civil society, he said would be consulted. The officer said his appeal was to the residents to pay taxes to enable the works and demand accountability if they feel the council is not delivering.
The municipality has the Municipality Development Forum, a pressure group that brings all categories of residents together to advise council on the polity’s development and service delivery.
This (forum), Mr Mugisha said, together with other civil society groupings, would be within their realm to demand for services and accountability and the team he led was willing to listen and factor in residents’ views.
He said Entebbe is a gateway to the country, considering it has the nation’s international airport. It, he explained formed the face of the country and that face needed to be well looked after and beautified to leave a lasting impression to the visitors.
He is upbeat about the team he leads, saying he has qualified, positive and listening, staff whom he would work with to ensure Entebbe residents get the best they deserve.
He pointed out indebtedness as one of the challenges of the council he inherited, whereby many litigants are demanding for payment having won court cases against the council. He said he was studying the various files and putting colleagues to task about how these arose.
It’s a new station. There are challenges and opportunities. I am looking to improving service delivery, improve where we are not doing well and do better where we are doing well.
So far good, the team is doing well, without the human resource you can’t do much.
Specifically, I will be interested in a clean town. Good thing my Mayor is also interest in this. Second, I would like to see us improving the cleanliness and improving the infrastructure.
The technical planning committee has embarked on a Greening and beautification plan. It will be a five year plan, because resources are scarce, we have to do it in phases. I Think it will be the first of its kind in the country. I don’t know of any city or municipality with such a plan . Every financial we would have to implement a bit of that plan.
The other thing is finance. We have to improve the revenues, without revenue there’s nothing you can do. So my appeal to the people of Entebbe is that they should pay their taxes and then put us to task that you have no done this for us… That is my humble appeal.
Those are the three major issues at the moment. Beautification and Greening and then finance.
The beautification plan includes lighting, landscaping, street furniture, rest places especially in open spaces (toilets and …) We are very keen to ensure we have functional toilets where people can relax and enjoy.
Entebbe is an old and cosmopolitan town. It has its history. The civil society is a bit vibrant. They should put us to task if they see we are not doing well. Its within their rights to demand the kind of services they expect from us.
We have the Municipal Development Forum and of course its very vibrant and of course we shall be working with them to ensure people’s views are taken care of and we shall be working towards achieving them.
The other thing is about infrastructure. Entebbe under Greater Kampala Metropolitan Plan has some two roads earmarked to be worked on. They come with tarmac, the street lights, the drainages, the walkways. The road network will generally improve.
Entebbe is the face of this country, it’s the gateway. When people get here from abroad, it will give a lasting impression, it’s very important that we beautify this face and give the visitors a lasting impression.
That will be the line and the resources will be expended in that line.
Challenges, someone took us to court. It a very long time, I don’t know how it came. Am trying to talk to my colleagues to get to know how it came. And there are many of such things.
Where I have been we have been very careful, we haven’t been losing cases but some councils do not go to court to explain and they end up losing cases. But I don’t rule out rogue elements exploiting these avenues and causing loses to local governments.
I am told we have about 46 cases and this one our council lawyer is taking up.(Report By PEACOCK KAWEESA)
