Shock as Thieves Steal Doors from New Pit Latrine in Bukomansimbi

Bukomansimbi District | THE BLACK EXAMINER | Leaders in Butenga Sub-county, Bukomansimbi district, were astonished to discover that thieves had audaciously stolen the doors of a newly constructed pit latrine, adding an unexpected twist to the ongoing development project.

The incident took place at the site designated for the construction of the sub-county headquarters at Kanoni village along the Villa Maria-Bukomansimbi-Sembabule highway, leaving officials disheartened.

Kagimu Leonard Ssalongo, the sub-county Chairperson, expressed his dismay, saying, “I came to monitor the site when I saw that the metallic doors that we have just put on the latrine were stolen.”

Nayiga Sylvia Kawoko, Parish chairperson, added, “We are just constructing our sub-county headquarters, but there is no way we are going to develop when everything we put in place they steal them.”

Since Bukomansimbi became an independent district in 2010, Butenga sub-county has been operating without offices and has been using Kabaka’s buildings. Kagimu explained, “After a period of now 13 years while borrowing Kabaka’s buildings, in the financial year 2021-2022 the government gave us shs.20m to start constructing sub-county headquarters so I sat with my sub-county council and we decided to first build a pit latrine, and it costed shs.18m, and the stolen doors cost shs.800,000.”

He continued, “As Butenga sub-county, we receive little funds, for example, this financial year we received only Shs. 17m to run the sub-county which is very little, and now we don’t know where we are going to get money from to replace those doors because even the Headquarters building we are constructing remained on a flow due to lack of money. So, we are appealing to the government to help us to replace these doors as we are waiting for funds to finish our Headquarters building.”

The Butenga youth councillor, Kyagaba Lawrence, urged the government to provide funds to complete their Headquarters. He said, “If we have been operating from here, I am sure thieves would have fear to come and steal the doors because they would have a fear that someone can see them but now it’s just a bush and someone can take anything he wants without any compromise.”

The peculiar crime has raised concerns about security measures for government infrastructure projects, prompting discussions among community members. Law enforcement has been alerted, and an investigation is underway to identify and apprehend the perpetrators. Despite this setback, the community is determined to overcome the challenge and ensure progress, symbolized by the stolen doors becoming a rallying point for resilience and unity.