By Kei Emmanuel Duku
For years after, Gumbo and Sons Limited, a local logging company promised critical public facilities in exchange for logs and timbers, residents of Langabu Boma- Lirya Payam in Central Equatoria State remain stranded without a health center or clean drinking water.
Community leaders are now blaming shoddy contract management and subsequent government failure to release funds the company for leaving vital infrastructure unfinished.
The crisis stems from a 2021 where agreement between the community and Gumbo and Sons Limited, stipulating that after logging operations, the company would construct a health center and drill a bore well for the community’s use.
However, distrust quickly emerged. The Central Equatorial State (CES) County Government intervened during Jubeke State under the 32 states when then the Governor was Augustino Jadalla Wani seized the logs to manage the process itself.
This tripartite agreement was signed by the then-County Government, under Charles Wani as the commissioner and his Executive Director Alex Mike.
“They are the ones going to sell the logs,” explained Louis Ladu Kamilo, a Langabu Community Leader. “Then, they would release the money to the company, reducing the amount bit by bit until the company finished the construction of the health center, because they didn’t trust the company.”
Following the revised contract, the company started work. The foundation was raised, and walls went up. The supervising engineer for the construction at that time is currently identified as Data Charles Bullen, now the Commissioner of Morobo County.
The project, however, stalled dramatically. The construction reached the roofing stage but was left incomplete. The company complained the county had provided insufficient funds.
“It’s very sad,” Mr. Kamilo stated. “It has been almost two years, and people are suffering. When we called the company to ask why they don’t finish the health center, they said the government has not reduced the money to the county.”
Fearing the partially roofed structure would collapse in the wind, the desperate community took action into its own hands.
“We had to utilize some of our own resources,” Mr. Kamilo lamented. “We bought iron sheets—29 sheets first, and then 47 more, a total of 76 iron sheets. We completed the other part of the roofing without the company, just so the building wouldn’t collapse.”
The community hoped this effort would pressure Gumbo and Sons Limited and the County Government to finalize their agreement and finish the job. But since that time, no further progress has been seen.
Recently, the residents’ hopes were briefly reignited by an invitation that the County Commissioner was scheduled to visit and inspect the health center.
“The community prepared themselves and waited for him, but up to the moment, he has not appeared,” Mr. Kamilo said. Residents were left broken down by the disappointment.
The community leader concluded with a profound sense of rejection. “It is very sad that since the country gained independence, not a single commissioner has reached Langabu village to see how people are suffering. Residents struggle without roads, water, or a health center. Other people are thinking that maybe Langabu area is not part of Central Equatorial State.”
The intervention by the Central Equatoria State County Government, while intended to safeguard the project against an untrustworthy company, resulted in a new layer of bureaucracy and financial deadlock. The failure of the County Government to remit subsequent funds after confiscating and selling the logs has effectively halted the construction, transferring the financial burden and the health risk back to the vulnerable community.
The community’s decision to self-fund the roofing to save the structure from collapse underscores the high stakes and desperation caused by poor contract follow through and bureaucratic disinterest.