Gulu City Council To Relocate The Baby Elephant To The City Centre
Gulu City Council will be relocating the Tusker Bilboard to the middle of the city.
Gulu City council this afternoon resolved to relocate the billboard constructed at Layibi Roundabouts to Acholi inn Roundabouts. The billboard has Tusker logo with a statute of a young elephant underneath.
The Billboard which was constructed by Baka Company Ltd. -Kampala based Company has met a lot of criticism from some section of Acholi communities- they expressed dismay on the manner how it was designed and constructed.
The Billboard and the elephant statute was controversially launched last week through the stewardship of Ker kwaro Acholi, despite a protest by the City Council Authority that the launch should be delayed as certain conditions were not made. The City council today also distancing itself on signing any Memorandum of Understanding with TUSKER (UBL).
The Roundabouts which is a road reserve is under the ownership and control of Uganda National Road Authority -UNRA which gave permission to Baka Company to hire the road reserve for a period of five years. Baka applied to develop place by constructing a billboard and statute of an elephant.
The Roundabouts which is a road reserve is under the ownership and control of Uganda National Road Authority -UNRA which gave permission to Baka Company to hire the road reserve for a period of five years. Baka applied to develop place by constructing a billboard and statute of an elephant.
Gulu City Council had allocated sh90m for the beautification project in the last financial year and later passed a supplementary budget of sh150m to help in the rebranding of the city under United Nation Capital Development Fund UN-CDF
The money was meant to construct elephant statutes -three elephants were supposed to be at Layibi Roundabouts, construct a Monument at Pece War Memorial, and signposts to be put at Gulu City headquarters and Billboard at the entrance of Gulu City along Kampala Road.
The City authority awarded the contract of rebranding of Gulu City to Vintage Expression at tune of sh57m while the work was not complete, the Building and Control Committee of the council illegally approved a new design and plan presented to them by Baka Company to set up same thing without the consent of the city council. The approval was illegal and against the decision of the city council to have three big elephants.
In a council meeting which was chaired by the Speaker of Gulu City Council Alima Renee Joyce, the council resolved that they will stick with the initial council decisions to have three elephant statute erected at Layibi Roundabouts and of big elephants.
The council said having Acholi identity-with an elephant with tusker at the entrant of the city portrays negativity about Acholi and it promotes Alcoholism in Acholiland.
The council also resolved that some of the technocrats who shall be found to have messed up in the process of approving the Baka’s plan to be punished administratively.
The council also questioned the involvement of Ker Kwaro Acholi in the implementation of council decisions. It was the Ker Kwaro Acholi who organized the launch of the Billboard and statute which was protested by the council.
Mr. Oduny Samuel councilor representing elderly people in the city council who raised the motion under matter of public importance, said it was not right for the Ker Kwaro Acholi to meddle with political decisions of the council as an antimony entity in the administration of Acholi.
Story Compiled by: Jornalist Chowoo Willy
