Butula roads in poor shape as Sh18m grader lies idle

The Sh18 million road grader has not operated for at least three years, and is parked at the offices of the Butula Deputy County Commissioner. Butula residents want investigations carried out to unravel the circumstances under which the machine ended up grounded. [Ignatius Odanga, Standard]

Butula residents are demanding an explanation for a Sh18 million road grader that has been grounded for three years now.

The grader was bought in 2007 with funds from the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF).

It is now parked idle and falling into disrepair at the offices of the Butula Deputy County Commissioner.

Residents want investigations carried out to determine circumstances that led to the machine being grounded for such a long time.

Those interviewed by The Standard said roads in Butula Constituency are in a bad state and the grader would have been useful in repairing them.

Hired out

Hezron Odongo, a resident, said it is time a probe was conducted so that constituents can understand what went wrong with the machine.

“What we want is accountability. We want to know how much money the grader generated since it was bought, and why it broke down,” said Mr Odongo.

The grader was bought by the then area MP Christine Mango. When Prof Mango was contacted, she said the machine was to be used in rehabilitation of roads in the constituency.

“I am eager to know the circumstances that led to the grounding of the machine,” she added.

It was also to be hired out to private developers and the money it generated used to buy tractors that would help residents plough their fields.

A committee was formed by Mango that was to oversee the grader’s daily operations.

Mango lost the Butula parliamentary seat in 2007 to Alfred Odhiambo, who later lost to Michael Onyura in the 2013 polls. Mr Onyura lost to Joseph Oyula in 2017.

Mr Oyula has exonerated himself from blame, saying by the time he assumed office, the grader was already in bad shape.

“When I became Butula MP, the grader was not working. I would want to see the machine working but my hands are tied.”

Onyura added that the idea to buy a grader was good, but maintaining the machine proved uneconomical as it kept breaking down, and repairs were expensive.

“Some spare parts could not be found in the country. The machine had not made any money by the time I assumed office,” Onyura added.

Repair machine

But Onyura’s predecessor, Mr Odhiambo, accused him of failing to repair the grader.

Odhiambo said during his time as MP, the machine did run into some mechanical problems, but they would use NG-CDF money to get it back to working order.

“It used to break down but we would repair it and continue working on the roads,” Odhiambo said.

“The person who took over from me was supposed to ensure it keeps serving the people.”

Hillary Mainga, another resident who was interviewed, said no money from the NG-CDF should be used to repair the machine before investigations are carried out.

Mr Mainga wants members of the first committee that was constituted to run the grader to be compelled to explain how it used to operate.

He said they should tell the public how much it earned when it used to be hired out to private developers.

“The first committee must be hiding crucial information on how the grader ended up broken. We want them to share that information with investigators,” said Mainga.