Africa-Press – Uganda. In recent days, disturbing news has continued to emerge on the irregular supply of inputs in Karamoja. In the case of the supply of goats to would-be Karamoja farmers, not only were the promised number of goats not delivered, many of the goats which did reach the community members reportedly died immediately.
The cause of this, at least from interviewed extension officials, is that the goats were not first put in a holding area, as per proper procedure. The goats were reportedly neither properly checked nor vaccinated. This is particularly disturbing in light of reports that some of the supplied goats had ovine rinderpest, a highly contagious transboundary disease of sheep and goats, which results in high death rates.
Doubts have also been cast on the identity of the suppliers of these goats.
They were identified as relatives of powerful individuals and politicians within the Office of the Prime Minister.
After this saga, veterinary officials have said they should be consulted in case of procurements of this size and nature so that they can recommend the best animals to buy.
This one procurement of goats for Karamoja shows how many things can go wrong, and the impact of these omissions or commissions on the affected communities, if proper procedures are not followed.
We need to go back to the basics where a needs assessment is carried out to establish what people need before we supply them what we believe they need.
If a needs assessment had been done in this case, perhaps the OPM team would not have run into challenges of the goat beneficiaries selling the animals right after delivery.
The ministry officials would have known that the sub-region was grappling with hunger and therefore the people were bound to try and solve their food needs first before settling down to rear goats.
It doesn’t help matters that these latest procurements were meant to support the disarmament process in Karamoja by providing alternative sources of livelihood. There was a noble purpose to the exercise, which has been defeated in the bungling of this exercise.
In order to guard against derailing government initiatives, projects such as these where substantial sums of taxpayers’ money are involved, should be subject to the requirements of public procurement and disposal of public assets regulations. These scandals have unearthed the rot in the process, which should never be allowed to recur.
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