More than 127 road gang workers have petitioned the city authorities to allocate funds for higher salaries and allowances to improve their livelihoods.
Road gangs in Gulu City comprising mainly elderly women and single mothers—are demanding a salary increment from the City Council.
The workers, who play a crucial role in keeping Gulu among the cleanest cities in Uganda through daily street sanitation and hygiene, say they earn meager wages that cannot sustain their families.
Grace Acan, a 50-year-old worker stationed at Aliker Road, said the council should increase their monthly pay from the current shs150,000 to at least shs300,000.
“After the bank deducts shs25,000 in charges, we are left with only shs120,000 to take home. This is too little for paying school fees, buying food, and meeting domestic needs,” Acan explained.
She further appealed to Mayor Alfred Okwonga to consider establishing affordable revolving loan schemes under the Road Gangs SACCO.
“This would help us borrow money as we wait for our salaries, which are sometimes delayed due to technical reasons from the central government,” she added.
Acan also lamented that many road gang workers’ children are unable to attend school due to unpaid fees. “We don’t want to resort to begging for food in the streets while we are working hard to support the city,” she said.
Mego Alum Santa, 65, who works along Onekalit Road, expressed similar frustrations. “The work we do is a lot, yet we earn very little. We are the ones making Gulu City clean, but the council is not treating us fairly,” she said.
Santa added that the council should consider providing workers with small meal allowances. “For a long time, we have been working on empty stomachs until we return home. Some of us go to bed without cooking because of delayed salaries, sometimes for up to three months,” she said.
Another worker, Mego Lalam Santa, 60, highlighted challenges with uncooperative landlords and community members.
“Some landlords deliberately dump waste on the streets after we have cleaned, and when we talk to them, they turn arrogant. Others still practice open defecation and we are forced to collect the waste daily. This is demeaning,” she said.
She also noted that poorly parked cars block their routine cleaning routes, making their work more difficult.
Despite the challenges, Lalam acknowledged some positive changes. “Under the leadership of Mayor Okwonga, we have begun to experience some respect from the community. We ask that this continues so our work can run smoothly,” she added.
Responding to the concerns, Gulu City Mayor Alfred Okwonga appealed to the road gangs to continue using protective gear to safeguard their health while working.
“We want Gulu City to be clean, but not at the expense of our vulnerable road gangs. I appeal to the people of Gulu to support them, even with small contributions like shs1,000 or shs10,000, to motivate them in their work,” he said.
On the issue of salaries and allowances, Okwonga promised to task the city’s technical planning committee to review the matter.
“We shall sit and allocate an annual budget that will cater for salaries, allowances, and recruitment of more road gangs, especially as the city continues to expand with new roads,” he assured.
The mayor also pledged to support the Road Gangs SACCO with shs1 million as seed capital to help members access loans while awaiting their salaries.
The workers raised their concerns during a handover ceremony organized by the City Council, where they received new sanitation tools including wheelbarrows, spades, gloves, overalls, and other equipment to enhance their work.
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