A section of Members of Parliament from Teso Sub Region are considering litigation against Landlords who petitioned the Ministry of Local Government against the creation of Soroti City.
Last week, Soroti Landlords petitioned Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magezi to delay the creation of Soroti City for another ten years instead of July 2020.
The landlords claim that the communities annexed to Soroti city are largely agrarian and that the elevation to city status is likely to distort their way of life. They add that the changes were announced during the lockdown with little or no consultation from the communities adding that the elevation disempowers the common man and favours the rich. According to them, they should have een consultred first before such an important decision was made.
However Elijah Okupa, the Kasilo County MP in Serere says MPs from the region are studying the document presented to various offices and will soon make a decision on whether to drag the petitioners to court. He also claims that three people whose names were included as petitioners have approached him and disowned the document.
Soroti Municipality MP, Edmund Herbert Ariko says the petitioners tainted the image of Teso land by attempting to block development through the creation of the city. Ariko, who insinuated that the petitioners have political backing threatened to expose politicians behind the move.
However, the leaders of Soroti are already having discussion to make Soroti a city by 10th August.
