Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti, the Member of Parliament for Kole North, said he has injected his personal funds to address the constituency’s challenges by constructing two new causeways, including bridges and swamp drainage systems.
The project aims to boost road connectivity and improve drainage, enabling his people to move easily during the rainy season.
While commissioning the projects on Saturday, April 4, 2026, Dr. Opio Acuti explained that during his campaign, residents and local leaders repeatedly highlighted the poor state of roads and damaged swamps, which had cut off communities from essential services such as education, health facilities, and markets.
“No vehicle could pass through these swamps because they were only one meter wide. Therefore, I decided to bring an excavator to expand the roads up to eight meters wide with fully raised embankments, giving local residents free and easy movement,” he said last week.
MP Dr Opio added that residents had told him stories of women stripping off their clothes to cross the swamps when seeking healthcare services at Apalabarowo Health Centre II, and how lives were being lost because people could not easily reach hospitals.
“I wondered how our mothers were walking naked in front of their children while crossing these swamps, and how people were losing their lives because they could not access hospitals easily. This is what made me decide to act promptly to help our residents,” Dr. Opio Acuti emphasised.
He pledged to push for these roads to be included among priority roads for further construction and upgrading at the next road committee planning meeting.
The two projects include the Abongonyeko swamp causeway, which connects Aboke and Alito, and the Ayile swamp causeway, linking Alito and Okwerodot to Lira City.
The causeways, constructed using gravel and raised embankments, will transform access in previously difficult-to-reach swampy zones and are also expected to greatly benefit farmers, traders, and local communities who previously faced major challenges during the rainy seasons.
The LC1 chairperson of Adoki Ingei village, Quinto Alele, praised the initiative and said the causeways would now allow children to attend school regularly.
He noted that many pupils had previously stayed home because they could not cross the swamps, especially during the rainy season.
Alele noted: “This is a great milestone by our MP. I have never seen a Member of Parliament work so tirelessly to bring developmental progress to the grassroots like Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti.”
Moses Odong, LC1 chairperson of Okoko-Capi in Apaac parish, Aboke sub-county, described Abongonyeko Swamp as the area’s biggest challenge.
“As leaders, we shall protect this road. Anyone who attempts to roll an ox-plough on it will be arrested. We are extremely grateful to our MP for this timely intervention,” he added.
Josephine Otoo, the area councillor for Apaac South parish, noted that pregnant women previously suffered greatly when trying to access maternity services at Opeta Health Centre because transportation was nearly impossible.
Community members applauded Dr. Samuel Opio Acuti for his tireless efforts to improve health, education, and other social services in the constituency.
