Africa-Press – Uganda. The ongoing audit of government programmes has unearthed fraud and other irregularities that have hampered the effective implementation of Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga in Bukedi Sub-region.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) findings indicate that civil servants in the districts of Kibuku, Butebo, Budaka, Pallisa, Tororo, Busia and Tororo, have allegedly put a levy on the beneficiaries’ funds in the form of an appreciation token.
It was also discovered that the older persons, who are entitled to 10 percent, which is Shs10 million of Shs100m, have been sidelined in many districts, contrary to the issued guidelines.
Instead, these PDM funds are being redirected to other recipients, including civil servants.
Sr Mary Wasagali, the vice chairperson of EOC, told the Daily Monitor during an interview on Tuesday that extortion of money has derailed service delivery.
“We have discovered that they extorted money from the beneficiaries and we have instructed Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) to take action and some of the accused in the districts have been arrested,” Sr Wasagali said.
The arrested include five civil servants in Butaleja and a parish chief of Gwaragwara Parish.
Sr Wasagali said the commission also discovered that older persons were not benefiting from Emyooga.
“That’s very unfortunate, we urge the responsible government agencies to include older persons. The older persons and PWDs should be given their share when it comes to accessing money from government programmes so that they are not marginalised more,” she said.
The Tororo deputy RDC, Mr Albert Amula, said the suspects had connived and created a ghost PDM sacco.
He added that the officials also asked Sacco beneficiaries to sign for Shs1 million but gave them less than Shs600,000.
“We are going to carry out wider investigations into PDM Saccos because this is a signal that there is fraud and mismanagement going on,” he said.
Tororo has a total of 155 PDM Saccos.
Mr Robert Sangura, the chairperson of older persons in Butaleja District, said although the 10 percent is not enough to cover the more than 8,000 older persons in Butaleja, it would still be helpful.
“The President is our agemate and whatever we are eating is like our last meal but we are not being respected. Even the little we are allocated, we don’t get it,” he said.
Older persons, by the United Nations standards, are individuals aged 60 years and above and the 2019 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBS) report stated that they constitute 4.2 percent of the population, approximately 1,482,600 persons.
Ms Zamu Namuyunga, the women representative of Butaleja District, accused local government leaders of excluding women in the decision making process.
“We are not being involved so there is an information gap, which is also failing the implementation of government programmes,” she said.
About 88.3 percent of households in Butaleja depend on subsistence farming as the main source of livelihood.
The current poverty rate is 43.7 percent with the GDP per capita of less than $135 in the sub-region. The Third National Development Plan (NDPIII) poverty reduction projections for the sub-region stands at 25.8 percent by 2025.
What they say
Mr Stephen Mussede, the chairperson of older persons in Budaka District, said the government should strengthen laws to fight rampant corruption.
Ms Pherry Kabanda Sabano, a former woman MP, also highlighted the dire need for proper facilities, including toilets tailored to older persons’ needs in government facilities.
“We have so many pressing issues but we feel ignored and yet we are senior citizens of this country,” she said.
Mr George Otim, the district internal security officer, said: “We are aware [of the corruption] and we have so far arrested five to send a strong signal to other culprit.”
Mr Kassimu Magombe, the community development officer of Butaleja District, however, maintained that special interest groups and other categories have benefited.
“Although there are some minor issues, overall the government programmes are being effectively implemented,” he said.
The deputy chief administrative officer of Budaka, Ms Jane Akiror, said they would ensure the government programmes are free of corruption.
“We also emphasised the importance of gender and equity responsiveness,” she said.
The EOC is a government agency mandated to eliminate discrimination and inequalities against any individuals or group of people on the ground of sex, age, race, colour, ethnic tribe, birth, creed or religion, among others.
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