The 11th Parliament kicked off on Monday, May 17, 2021, with a total of 557 legislators, including Kole North County MP Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti.
While campaigning, Dr. Acuti informed the electorates about his manifesto of ‘Dongo lobo kede lonyo pacu (constituency development and wealth creation).’
For more than two years, Dr. Acuti has scored large achievements in health, education, roads, agriculture, and sports, among others, through various interventions.
On Wednesday, April 4th, 2024, Dr. Opio’s office released a detailed report about performances in parliament over the past two and a half years.
“In this first half of my term, I have been honored to serve in various leadership positions, notably as the secretary general of the Lango parliamentary group, the deputy chair of the health committee of parliament, the chairperson of the Kole district roads committee, and a delegate to the ACP-EU joint parliamentary assembly headquartered in Brussels, Belgium,” reads the report.
In this PART I, we focus on the health, education, and road sectors.
EDUCATION:
A total of 634 youth skilled in tailoring, carpentry, building, hairdressing, and motorcycle mechanics in 7 skilling centers across the three sub-counties of Alito, Aboke, and Okwerodot and the two town councils of Aboke and Alito, 448 examined under DIT, and 121 have opened their own workshops with the direct support of MP Dr. Acuti.
MP Dr. Acuti has so far opened up seven skilling centers, offering tailoring, carpentry, hairdressing, motorcycle mechanics, and building and construction.
“Constructed a twin staff house for Alito Primary School, lobbied for 232 iron sheets from the office of the Prime Minister for Apedi Primary School, whose roof was blown out by heavy rains, and lobbied jointly with the woman MP Kole for 100 iron sheets for Aboke High School, whose roofs were blown out by heavy winds,” reads the report.
According to the report, MP Acuti also raised on the floor of Parliament issues of high school fees, calling for government intervention, making follow-up on the compensation for the Aculbanya secondary school bus that was taken during the LRA insurgency and progress made, and awaiting funding to process it.
The total projects lobbied and investment in education by Dr. Acuti amounts to 350 million Ugx with the past years of his being in parliament.
HEALTH
In the health sector, MP Acuti has so far delivered three ambulances, serving each sub-county, and has since made a total of 511 trips for accidents, maternal emergencies, diagnostics, and funeral arrangements.
He has also supported 33 mental health medical camps by Mental Health Uganda, in which 14 categories of mental illness were managed and 30 maternity beds were distributed to Okwerodot, Ayara HCIII, and Aboke HCIV.
“One constituency ambulance was secured from the Ministry of Health for Kole North. One new health III is under construction in Okwerodot, and the Ayara HCII upgrade to HCIII is ongoing and led oversight visits to over 50 health facilities across the country to assess the level of service delivery,” reads the report.
The total value of health projects lobbied together with personal investment by MP Dr. Acuti amounts to 3 billion Ugx.
ROADS:
Under this sector, MP Acuti has graded two roads, one from Ajokawelo to Adellogo Primary School, and one from Acar Road via Obuto, Lwala, and Abongjok parish, and initiated the Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti Otimikomwa road maintenance unit.
The unit has so far provided manual maintenance using hand tools on several key roads, including pothole filling, drainage improvement, and off-shoot creation. Over 30 sections of roads were repaired using this approach, and 33 swamp crossings (small bridges) were worked on.
“Lobbied for 60 million Ugx from the Uganda Road Fund for emergency works on the 15-kilometer Alake-Anekapiri Road; lobbied for culverts for Kole District from the Ministry of Works, which is currently awaiting final approval and collection. And instituted the labor-based technology for community roads with a pilot in Barwot A and B villages linking Alito Town Council and Alito Sub-county,” reads the report.
Dr. Acuti has also, jointly with the Lango Parliamentary Group, championed the reconstruction of the 66-kilometer Lira-Kamdini road and the Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Puranga road.
Together with legislators from Acholi, MP Acuti has championed the construction of the 55-km Corner Ayer-Corner Aboke-Iceme-Bobi road, where the redesign of the road is ongoing and a contractor has been identified awaiting funding approvals.
“Jointly championed the construction of the Masindi port bridge, whose funding has been approved; jointly conducted oversight on the Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Puranga road, whose works had stalled for 8 months, enabling works to resume; and participated in more than 7 oversight visits on the Lira-Kamdini and Rwenkunye-Apac-Lira-Puranga roads,” reads the report.
MP Acuti, as the Chairperson of the Kole District Roads Committee, oversaw improvements in regularizing meetings, road inspections, planning, resource and fund utilization, and execution of road works, making more than 100km of road motorable.
Stay tuned for PART II where we will focus on agriculture, parliamentary roles, and oversight engagements.
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You are really a servant leader, God given to Kole. May God continuously bless you in Jesus’ name.
Thank you so much