The Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU) has joined residents and traders in Tororo Municipality in a clean-up exercise, using the second National Cleaning Day to rally communities against corruption and promote patriotism.
The PLU team, led by its Secretary General Fadil Twalla, moved through several streets in the municipality alongside traders and residents who temporarily closed their businesses to participate in the exercise.
Twalla said the organisation's participation was part of a broader community mobilisation campaign aimed at promoting national unity, patriotism and accountability.
"We have come to unify Uganda. We want to put people together and connect government with the population. Whatever you are doing, you must put Uganda first," Twalla said.
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He said PLU was also using the exercise to mobilise residents for community barazas through which the organisation intends to engage citizens on issues affecting their communities.
Twalla identified corruption as one of the major challenges affecting the implementation of government programmes and called for greater public vigilance and patriotism.
The campaign was welcomed by local leaders, who said corruption and mismanagement of public resources continue to undermine service delivery in Tororo.
Tororo Municipality Member of Parliament Shyam Jay Tanna cited alleged theft of medicines from health facilities and charges imposed on learners in government-aided schools as examples of challenges requiring urgent attention.
"There are people here who are needy and dying because hospital medicines are being stolen. People need education, yet they are being charged in schools. Money is sent by the central government, but people here think the President is responsible," Tanna said.
However, the clean-up exercise also exposed challenges in waste management, particularly the lack of adequate vehicles to transport collected garbage to the designated dumping site.
Some of the waste collected during the exercise was reportedly burnt along the streets after the available vehicles failed to transport all the garbage, raising concerns about pollution and public health.
Tororo District Chairperson John Okea called for increased investment in waste-management equipment, particularly garbage collection trucks.
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"When we get lorries that can move around and take the garbage to the dumping area, it can help us a lot in future," Okea said.
Tororo Town Clerk Ayub Alikwan Kisubi urged residents and municipal health teams to sustain the clean-up campaign instead of waiting for designated national cleaning days.
"We should continue cleaning, not only wait for National Cleaning Day. We encourage our people to go down to the ground and keep the town clean," Kisubi said.
After the exercise in Tororo Municipality, the PLU team proceeded to Magodes Town Council in Tororo County, where it held a community baraza attended by hundreds of residents.
The engagement focused on patriotism, national unity, accountability and citizen participation in community development.
