Arua City Dev’t Forum Members Gear Up For AGM
Draecabo stresses a point as some of his members take note during the press conference on Friday Photo Credit Andrew Cohen Amvesi
ARUA. The members of Arua City Development Forum (ACDF) are set for the belated 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
The AGM which is slated to take place at Arua district Land Offices on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 will be held under the theme: “Embracing inclusivity for a better city for all.”
Speaking during the pre-AGM press conference on Friday, Caesar Trinity Draecabo, the ACDF President, said they are in high gear to have the AGM which will give his current team an opportunity to present a report on how they have delivered on their mandate.
“It is unfortunate this was delayed, but the reasons were reasons that would demand that it be delayed up to now. But come 11th of this month, we will all convene to do the AGM,” Draecabo assured the public.
According to Draecabo, Arua is a regional city and that it is in the interest of the development forum to see that what is done at the center makes the whole of West Nile proud.
“We have been following every development plan of this city. We have had challenges where we had disagreed with people but we have had enough evidence to disagree and these disagreements were on principle so that whatever we are delivering as service to our people should not measure less than the quality it deserves,” Draecabo remarked.
He said they have had several infrastructural developments which hit some hitches but they have been able to get implemented.
“We have followed all USMID projects, we have followed other projects within the city, we have raised our voices where we have seen service delivery to our people has never been to the expectation.”
“Now going forward, it is a call on all of us that Arua city be one of the destinations the rest of the world will focus on for tourism, for the best of the reasons – not some of those ugly reasons where people focus on Arua; garbage, crime, that is not what we want to be known for. The city should up its game and the forum is well placed to make a contribution in this,” Draecabo stated.
Gloria Faida, a representative of the Market venders in ACDF, said the development forum has played a key role in reducing cases of street vending through regular sensitizations and enforcements.
“On behalf of the market vendors, I’m very pleased to have the ACDF in the city because of the enormous benefits we have got from it and we are hoping that the best will be done in the future as the new team comes to take over,” Faida said.
Rasul Musa Ayiman, the ACDF Secretary who represents the transport sector in the forum, noted that one-lane roads which used to be a challenge in the city are now no more due to the effort put by ACDF.
Jaffer Alekua, the representative of the cultural institution (Lugbara Kari), said his specific role was to ensure that a logo is obtained for Arua city in line with the Lugbara Kari norms.
“And the logo we got for Arua city is based on the fact that Arua city is on Lugbara land. Secondly, the majority of the residents are the Lugbara people and on this basis, the symbol for the Lugbara people is a Leopard lying on a rock indicating Peace, and only when provoked, is when a Leopard will stand to react,” Alekua said.
“That is why you see the logo has a Leopard lying on a rock and in the background, you are having the development of storied structures to represent Arua city.” Alekua added.
Meanwhile Mercy Ocotoko, the representative of the persons with disabilities on ACDF, observed that there have been a lot of consultations and engagements on developing very key information about Arua city, especially the development of the slogan and the vision of the city.
She said as a result, the vision has come out as a very friendly and inclusive vision where somebody looks at it and says yes, this is a city worth staying in.
About her Constituency, Ocotoko said there has been identification of the concerns of persons with disability in Arua city, both the indigenous and refugees.
“Now concerning the refugee issues, the city development forum contributed a lot in ensuring that the persons with disabilities especially who are refugees are identified because we are living in an era that says we should leave no one behind. Then the issues of accessibility in public places; in the markets for vendors with disabilities which has really been so much ensured and there has been a lot of support and lobbying that came out of the forum that has seen a lot of disability vision activities happen,” Ocotoko emphasized.
Judith Drate, the Arua city Community Development Officer (CDO) who doubles as the coordinator of ACDF, said as ACDF, they are looking at a body that doesn’t only address issues that are in relation to Arua city.
“As we all know that Arua city is the regional city for West Nile, so our issues in redress should be focusing on how a regional city amidst other local governments can be well situated first of all, for economic development but also on how the linkages in relation to transportation, livelihood, urban migration and also refugee migration should be addressed. And so, the importance of this forum for the council is in a triangulation because we value this forum so much since it helps us to connect to the local people in the communities,” Drate explained.