Residents of Kololo, an upscale suburb in Ugandan capital, Kampala have petitioned the High Commission of India over the choice of venue for the hosting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Government recently announced that Mr Modi will visit the country on July 24 and among other things, he will address the Parliament.
But over thirty residents of Kololo through their lawyer Kisaalu Henry Advocates have written to the Indian High Commissioner to Uganda Mr Shri Ravi Shankar expressing uneasiness the July 24 event will bring should be it held at Kololo Independence Grounds.
The petitioners who include the area Local Council Chairman told Mr Shankar that the venue and manner in which the selection Kololo Airstrip was chosen as the host of Prime Minister of India is wanting as the concerned Indian Community in Uganda wasn’t engaged.
The cost of the venue and the monies that have been involved in the organisation of the event are so outrageous yet there are better places with good security that ought to have been selected.
The petitioners add that Kololo is wanting in terms of facilities like toilets, kitchen materials and great inconveniences from the neighbourhood all that is likely to affect the health of Mr Modi.
“The organisation of the event has not exhibited any transparency but intended to benefit a few people at the expense of the common good of the entire Indian Community in Uganda and Uganda as a whole,” the petition reads in part.
That Kololo is a residential area and a host of many schools whereof the events intended hours fall at the school pick up peak hours of 3pm to 7pm.
Against a backdrop of a heap of grievances, the residents demand that the venue of hosting Mr Modi be changed to an alternative that merges the interests of being spacious tailored with high profile event amnesties like kitchens, toilets, lighting and resting areas.
Another separate petition by a concerned Uganda who is lawyer Rogers Kamulegeya through the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Indian High Commission in Uganda to “prevail over the manner of selection of the venue hosting the said dignitary and more so, come up with an alternative venue that matches with the status of the said dignitary visiting our country.”
These petitions follow numerous concerns of divisionism in the Indian Community in preparing for the Prime Minister’s visit.
Recently number of concerns had been raised by some sections of the Indian community who also who petitioned the Indian High Commissioner to Uganda, Mr Shri Ravi Shankar, on July 5, rejecting the earlier 10-member organising committee for Modi’s visit.
They threatened to stay away from preparations for his visit. They cited lack of inclusion, poor accountability and the manner in which the organising committee was picked for the preparations.
