The Wire Perspective

Hon. Balaam Barugahara has become Uganda’s Tsunami. A tsunami that this time round is only dangerous to a section of individuals that have always considered themselves privileged as the peasants looked on in admiration.

The district tour he embarked upon with Hon Justine Nameere is leaving many licking their wounds in disbelief. Like Sweet & Sour pork, they are exposing the nudity of neck-tie donning thieves littering the crucial artery of service provision in Uganda and that is the Local Governments.

Currently, various professionals are sulking over the roba doba style that these two initially underrated Ministers are using to manage affairs in their ministry which has become the darling of the public. Under the guise of process flow, they are coming out to criticize the achievements. The President of the Uganda Institute of Professional Engineers put out a very disappointing statement whose aim was clearly to shield the crooks that are representing it in the various government works.

We on the ground have had enough of this ongoing nonsense that exhibits collusion between various officials. These Engineers handling the works, their supervisors like the CAOs, LCV Chairmen & Councilors, Members of Parliament, RDCs, DISOs and the whole lot along the value chain have specialized in demanding cuts before even the work is executed. The silence exhibited by MPs especially is very disappointing, no wonder the table being shaken has a lot of expensive drinks.

In Butaleja, ever since Balaamization begun, the district grader has somehow got access to an endless supply of fuel and a very hard working operator who is working night and day to get roads in a better shape. As of writing this article, the grader has been working on a road in Busaba Sub County all night long into the morning hours.

The excuses being given by white collar page boys demanding adherence to the trail of command in Government are simply sugar coated ways of the few gluttonous elites who do not want the status quo to shift.

As Butaleja Liberation Front, we have on a number of occasions appealed to the Office of the IGG, Ministry of Local Government, Ministry of Finance, State House Anti-Corruption Unit and even the Ministry of Public Service but apart from one incident when we got a positive feedback from the Permanent Secretary of Local Government, the rest were merely lame ducks. They simply looked the other side, moreso the IGG whose office in Tororo is no different from a shopping arcade mannequin, very useless.

Hon Balaam, as you come to Butaleja this week just know that:

• The District Engineer is suddenly hurriedly working on a number of roads. Do not be deceived by the state you find them in, Trace back just two years and you will be shell shocked to find a Bulambuli scenario. You can also be armed with reports on the state of our roads over the past two years and you will realise the shambles UIPE representatives have gotten us into despite the billions poured into the road fund.
• Butaleja House is one structure that has been turned into a serial financial Golgotha (crucifiction site). Boys have done their thing playing Russian roulette with the over 4 Billion Shillings sofar sunk into that structure since commencement of its construction.
• District Service Commission deserves a visit. I know the residents of Nabiganda Town Council are preparing to stop you for a briefing. Please listen to them. Ask for complainants of the job corruption scheme while there, you will be amazed at how many will join your delegation as you head to the offices. I pray your team notifies the Service Commission Chairman (A Bishop by the way) to be in attendance so you can see for yourself firsthand, the state of our Men of God lately.
• Pay a visit to Butaleja Integrated Primary School. There are lots of grieving parents whose children that sat for PLE UNEB exams last year had all their results cancelled. The crisis arose from underhand activities that the administration is alleged to have been engaged in. An investigation was promised but todate, nothing has come from the District Education Department.
• Busolwe House in Busolwe Town Council has abeen a financial cash cow for some officials at the district. A quick scan of the documentation by your team will show some serious fraud that has been ongoing there too.
• Busolwe General Hospital Land. Hon Balaam, I advise you to permit the maverick Hon Nameere to handle this. Her cantankerously unorthodox approach is what can manage Mr. Tom Daka, the man who wants to lay claim on Hospital Land thanks to a small section that his late father retained towards the round about. As you look into this, investigate one of the officials of the Lands Department, Ms. Lydia Kagoya who is complicit in the manipulated land title that she made for the hospital without the right approval process and evaded efforts by the subsequent leadership at the hospital to get to the root of the matter.
• Further on land, I am in possession of a trail of evidence from an aggrieved citizen who has suffered under the wrath of the Lands office at the district regarding the acquisition of a title. I can avail you their information in full for action. As of now, we were considering going public with their frustrations in the title acquisition.
• Nakwasi Seed School, Kaiti Seed School, Muhula Seed School, Butaleja SS all deserve your attention. They are bleeding.
• Absentee workers at the District do exist and when you get an opportunity to visit Nabiganda Health Centre IV, do not hesitate to ask for one such doctor. The same with Nakwasi Seed School.
• While at the UPE / USE Schools, find out accountability for the illicit Development and UNEB Registration fees they have been collecting over the years. There is a chain of officials that partake of these monies right from the Schools all the way to the Education Department and the Political Offices.
• Procurement at the district is totally rotten. Pick interest in it and you will harvest some individuals for the Kampala ACCU bound drone. This though is also likely to rope in some politicians whose phony companies have been known for supplying Air.
• There is a Government storage facility at Sagenda in Butaleja Town Council. Hon Balaam, please take time to find out why close to a decade later, it still has not offered the services it was intended for as regards addressing farmers’ produce storage challenges.
• Boreholes. This is another area that exhibits the highest level of financial hemorrhage. Boreholes erected by NGOs are accounted for as District LG boreholes by the team hence allowing them to siphon resources out of the coffers illicitly. Sample with the advice of the DISO’s office. You will thank me later. It is always disheartening to see long lines of women and youths spending hours just collecting water from the few available boreholes.
• The Micro-irrigation scheme has benefitted mainly the already empowered civil servants with few genuine farmers benefitting. This is all thanks to the skewed nature of how it has been handled. A look at the accountability reveals money being spent mainly on eating food at meetings, hiring chairs, buying jackets among other non-core activities.
• Bukedi College Kachongha is suffering from a land grab that is orchestrated by a family that has laid repeated claim to the school land. A lot of pussyfooting is being exhibited by the responsible authorities thanks to the fear many have for the highly ranked official in the armed forces that comes from that family. It is high time this fiasco came to an end.

There is simply too much to deal with in one of the most corrupt and poorly performing districts in the entire Uganda but it is my prayer that change starts taking root.

To you that has read this far, Balaamization is a result of the principles upheld by the National Chairman of the Patriotic League of Uganda. Many thanks to the infusion of PLU cadres in the cabinet. Genuine change is indeed upon us.

James Wire
Community Advocate
Butaleja District
X – @wirejames