“If We Destroy Informal Traders, They Will Become Gangsters”—Mayor Edogu Defends Soroti’s Development Path

By Steven Enatu

 

SOROTI CITY

 

Soroti City Mayor Joshua Edogu has offered one of his most comprehensive reflections on his tenure, highlighting achievements, correcting misconceptions, and issuing strong warnings about the city’s future direction. Speaking to TBS Radio, the outgoing mayor described Soroti’s transition from municipality to city as historic but challenging for the Teso region.

 

“Soroti City was even not about to be one of the cities operationalized… but we thank God our leaders worked very hard,” Edogu said, acknowledging the efforts of Hon. Herbert Ariko, Gregory Egunyu, and Hon. Elijah Okupa in securing city status.

 

A central theme of Edogu’s tenure, he said, has been managing public expectations. “People thought government was coming to build skyscrapers, universities, stadiums… No. Soroti should be identified as a city for agriculture,” he clarified. He emphasized that Soroti is meant to serve as a regional agricultural hub, not a metropolitan business center. “We were made a city to give the people of Teso an opportunity to realize their potential… Soroti is a city for agriculture.”

 

Under his leadership, the city has become a regional processing and value-addition hub for crops like sorghum, millet, beans, and maize. “When we have sorghum, millet, beans, maize… we are supposed to process it. That is why government built the value-addition market. All these products pass through Soroti City.”

 

Edogu also pointed to infrastructural and safety improvements, including over 30 kilometers of tarmac and murram roads, as well as expanded street lighting. “We did it to give business an opportunity beyond daylight, and to provide security. The city must be secure.” In health, he highlighted a new Health Centre III in Otatai, additional hospital blocks, a fully functional blood bank in Arapai, and an upgraded oxygen plant at Soroti Regional Referral Hospital. “Very soon we shall not have challenges of oxygen like during COVID,” he said.

 

Education has also advanced, with new classroom blocks, teacher housing, sanitation facilities, and recruitment of additional staff. “We have been able to build toilets and recruit teachers and support staff… we are growing,” Edogu stated.

 

On garbage management, he defended the public-private partnership model, urging citizens to take responsibility. “We want the garbage generators to be the ones to pay the garbage cleaners. The Mayor’s office should focus on broader development, not waste.”

 

Addressing claims of underfunding, Edogu said Soroti’s revenue has doubled since elevation, from 1.5 billion as a municipality to 3 billion as a city. He dismissed allegations of undeclared collections. “There is no such possibility. It is not about an individual; it’s a system.”

 

He acknowledged persistent challenges with stormwater management in the city center. “If you go to the heart of the city, there has been a water challenge… the drainage was narrow… we are now working on it. That project is well over 400 million, funded from local revenue.”

 

Staffing, however, remains limited, with the city operating at only 30 percent capacity due to central recruitment delays. “We only recruit when cleared by the Ministry of Public Service… our staffing level is at about 30 percent, meaning 70 percent of the people we need here are not there. When we recruit now, it might go to 40 percent.” He added that these gaps affect project implementation, citing the upcoming UCMID program requiring qualified engineers and department heads.

 

Edogu reassured residents about urban planning, saying Soroti is not expanding blindly. “Even today, we have a team from Makerere University, UAAU, and the Minister of Housing, Planning and Urban Development… Physical planning guides development. It tells us where roads will pass, where commercial buildings will expand, where residential areas and industrial parks will go.”

 

On budgeting, Edogu stressed that critical sectors cannot be ignored: “You cannot budget without budgeting for roads, garbage collection, schools, health centres, and expansion of physical planning.”

 

But it was on informal traders that the mayor delivered his sharpest warning. He defended roadside vendors, youth roasting cassava, and women selling bananas, saying that harassing them would be disastrous for the city. “These are not enemies. They are not second-hand human beings. If we destroy them, they will turn around and become gangsters,” he said. He urged authorities to support and organize low-capital survival businesses instead of criminalizing them. “Government does not discriminate people according to their abilities… it mobilizes people so they can grow.”

 

Edogu also expressed a vision for better facilities with more resources, including new bus parks in each division and additional markets for the city’s over 7,000 traders. “Each division should have its own bus park—Obuku should have one, Opuyo should have one. The main market houses less than 2,000 yet we have over 7,000 traders.” He emphasized the need for city-owned road maintenance equipment to reduce dependence on central government: “If I had everything, I would ensure Soroti City has all road equipment. Revenue is the lifeblood of a city like this.”

 

On his decision to step aside, Edogu confirmed he would not seek re-election but remains committed to supporting the community. “It’s true that I am not… But I will still continue being very useful. There are many ways people can be of help… not only by being mayor.”

 

He urged future leaders to provide dignified, smart leadership beyond partisan rhetoric. “It’s not about rhetorics of NRM, FDC, NUP… that is out. People need smart leaders who take them where they want to go.” He also called for inclusivity, patriotism, and increased tax compliance: “Through taxes, we are able to give services. People should learn to love their motherland.”