There is an uproar among the public in Mbale city over the new design of the Clock tower. The city authorities are rehabilitating the clock tower to give it a new look. The works include the replacement of the gong, erecting of a statue of a circumcision candidate, a key cultural practice among the Bamasaba, and planting a coffee garden around the clock tower.

Bugisu is known for growing Arabica coffee. Apparently, Capital outdoor advertising which is undertaking the rehabilitation works has already installed two coffee beans on top of the clock tower. The ongoing works have already raised alarm with many people suggesting that its original outlook should be maintained. Some residents have taken to different social media platforms to criticize the two coffee seeds erected on top of the clock tower.

“The coffee would be placed down all around the corners of the clock tower not up like this. Our planners though,” said Uthman Mukote, the proprietor of Mr. Goat Café posted on the Whatsapp Mbale Facebook page. Tom Wanasolo, another netizen said, “the coffee seeds using an angle of elevation appear to look like a bum. Kindly scatter coffee seeds on the base of the tower.”