Serere | On Tuesday morning, a group of enraged residents and traders in Serere district launched an operation to collect all materials used for roadblocks in Asilang along the Ocampa-Soroti road and in Abuket along the Serere-Ngora road.
Serere district local government had primarily imposed two revenue check-clearance roadblocks on the Serere-Atiira to Soroti and Serere-Ngora roads.
Their goal was to collect and increase district revenue by charging road users, particularly those from the business community transporting produce and other commodities.
These checkpoints, which existed before the 2021 general elections, have caused chaos between the implementers and the community, resulting in today’s demonstration.
The angry protestors, along with their local councillors, took action. They claim that the personnel manning the roadblocks charged them exorbitant fees for their commodities in the name of revenue.
Lawrence Obuku, a produce dealer, complains that they are charged between shs1,000 and shs2,000 for a bag of cassava, millet, charcoal, sorghum, and other items each time they pass through the checkpoint, which he considers to be an excessive fee.
Another businessman, Robert Odeng, claims that their cars were deflated during negotiations or when they failed to pay taxes.
Odeng and Obuku claim that their rage sparked the demonstration, which resulted in the forceful removal of materials from the checkpoints.
Chamute Simon, a district councillor for Ocaapa town council, reveals that they passed a resolution on March 27, 2024, to prohibit all revenue checkpoint roadblocks, but operations continued.
He explains that they collected the materials with the intention of burning them, hoping to draw the attention of those who are causing the roadblocks.
When the protestors arrived at the district headquarters, police officers led by DPC Brian Musasizi blocked them, citing a lack of prior notification of their peaceful demonstration.
A 30-minute standoff followed.
The standoff continued until the arrival of RDC Emmanuel Okot and Chief Administrative Officer Richard Sabajja Bukone, who asked the protestors to identify five representatives for a meeting to discuss their concerns.
Following the meeting, RDC Okot announced the agreement to ban all checkpoint operations, citing the council resolution.
Ann Beatrice Abeja, Vice Chairperson LC5 of Serere, stated that the council decided to declare all revenue checkpoint operations illegal.
Serere’s Speaker, Henry Opio, revealed that the council decided to ban the checkpoints for a variety of reasons, including the lack of a tender agreement, non-remittance of collected taxes, and checkpoint personnel harassing the community.
Opio also disclosed that the tenderer was supposed to remit shs200,000 to sub-counties and town councils on a monthly basis, but no such remittance was observed, prompting action.
In a shocking revelation, Opio stated that neither the district nor the sub-county authorities know the tenderer, and even the personnel claim ignorance of their employers, despite frequent changes.
By Robert Edwomu.
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