NO MORE EXCUSES: RDC Okiswa Gets ‘Wheels’ to Drive Alebtong Farmers Out of Poverty
By Patrick Okidi
Alebtong Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Geoffrey Okiswa, has taken delivery of a brand-new fleet of vehicle and motorcycles to stir up the district’s agricultural extension services.
RDC Okiswa, flanked by the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) and the District Production Officer (DPO), was among the select few at the national handover ceremony where the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) offloaded 69 vehicles and over 1,000 motorcycles to local governments.
Alebtong’s inclusion in the Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project is being viewed as a lifeline for a district where farmers have long complained of transport to reach the grassroots.
But with the arrival of these “beasts of burden,” the honeymoon is over for lazy civil servants. Agriculture Minister Frank Tumwebaze and Vice President Maj.Rtd. Jessica Alupo issued a stinging directive to RDCs: “Whip these extension workers into the fields.”
Accepting the challenge, RDC Okiswa warned that the days of using government motorcycles to ferry charcoal or run private business bysome of the errands staff are gone.
“The government has finally solved the transport headache. Now, I want to see these experts in the field, not in air-conditioned offices,” Okiswa noted. “Our mission is socio-economic transformation, and it starts with every extension worker reaching the last mile.”
For the Alebtong farmer, the sight of a government motorcycle in the village will no longer be a rarity but a requirement. As the district shifts gears into climate-smart farming, Okiswa’s message is loud and clear: if you have the fuel and the wheels, you must deliver the yields.
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