After the directive given by President Museveni to the Government to undertake reconstruction of the Lira-Kamdini road, it would be safe to assume that the protest would be called off. However, Lango leaders are not convinced yet.
Speaking to the leader of the protest Odongo Patrick, he surprised The Fatboy Show Presenters today morning when he said they would still be marching naked to the World Bank Offices regardless of the President’s promises.
“What the Government did was to make a promise. We've heard these for 11 years, do you think I can believe them once again?” He questioned. “What we need is the Government to act and start constructing the road.”
Olive Najjuma, the show’s Co-host asked him whether the Government had provided a timeline for the construction to which he replied, “It's the usual promises which they don't keep yet an average of 10 people die on that road every week.”
In addition, he said that the World Bank responsible for signing for the funding of the construction has deliberately refused to do so since 2009, a kind of negligence that the protest will expose to the rest of the world.
“The World bank is failing its mandate and role. It would rather fund wars around the world than developmental projects. So we want to shine a light on that,” he said.
According to Odongo, as a member of the World Bank, Uganda is a shareholder in the organization and doesn't have to beg member states to fund such projects. “The World Bank is a global institution in which Uganda is a shareholder yet it has failed to play its role. This inaction and ineptitude has to be exposed,” he once again reassured.
Fatboy then asked Odongo whether he thought this would be the best way to deliver their message and if they hoped it would stir the desired result.
“Yes, because we want to show the world that there’s a need for great reform at the World Bank. If it's able to fund activities outside its mandate, how hard is it for it to construct a road project?” he responded.
However, in her opinion, Olive said that the protest feels redundant because the Government promised to fund the project. She asked Odongo if they weren't being impatient considering that the President made the promises over the weekend, just 2 days ago.
However, digging in his heels, the protest leader maintained that the people of the Lango sub-region were tired of empty promises over and over and that this time, they are to take action.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive, Sarah and Lesham every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.