USMID MARKET TO IMPROVE ADJUMANI’s TRADE RELATIONS WITH NEIGHBOURS.

By Bazio Doreen and Onzima Allan (West Nile TV).

Residents and leaders of Ukusijioni Sub County have welcomed the Market constructed under the Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development Additional Financing (USMID-AF) arguing that it will help to improve trade relations between Adjumani and its neighbors. This as, the market is able to accommodate over 2,000 people with enough storage facilities, sanitary facilities, and well fenced.

According to Tiondi Michael, a farmer and resident of Kiraba Central Village, the project is likely to improve trade through motivating the sub county to become a food basket for Ma’di Sub Region since the market is located along the highway to Obongi District through Sinyanya Landing site which is a gate way to many West Nile districts as well.

“This market will connect us to different business communities for instance from Amuru, Obongi Moyo districts as well as others districts in West Nile at large to pick food produce like cassava, sorghum and others,” Tiondi observed.  

Dipio Betty, another  resident of Kiraba Central Village, Payaru Parish, also observes that having access to a market nearer to them helps to reduce transport expenses to far away markets while at the same time providing storage for food produce and empowering more women to engage in trade.

Indeed, Apollonia Adebasiku, a resident of Sorogo Village, attests to this. She says that many women will now be encouraged to embrace convenient market vending because of the availability of a market facility next to them.

“Many women had been discouraged to do market vending because of the long distances they have to trek to find good market facilities. Many had resorted to selling by the road side. But now, we shall be able to leave our produce at the market every day and return the next day without much worry that it could be stolen,” Adebasiku says.

Hon. Dominic Arambe, the LC III Chairperson, is now calling upon his people to embrace the project and make good use of the market so as to achieve sustainable development in the Sub County.

The Sub County Chairperson, also thanked the District Leadership and Office of the Prime Minister, for choosing Ukusijioni Sub County to benefit from this project. He also encouraged the refugees to make good use of the market as well because they are the reason the government with funds from World Bank is improving infrastructure in refugee hosting districts.

On her part, the Hon. Adrupio Irene Appi, the Secretary For Finance, Adjumani District Local Government, says that the market is not only for Ukusijioni Sub County, but all people of Adjumani should embrace it and make a better use of it. She also appealed to the sub county leadership to take on proper management of the market so that it doesn’t become like some of the idle markets across the district that were properly planned but ill managed.

The Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program is designed as a Program-for-Results (PforR) program building on the Local Government Management and Service Delivery (LGMSD) program- a performance base grant (PBG) program which was piloted by the Bank under the first LG Development Program (LGDP I) in selected districts and later scaled nationally to cover the entire LGs system in Uganda with funding from the Bank and other development partners.

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