I rarely celebrate Ministerial appointments largely due to the fact that over the years, toothless individuals have been typically rewarded with little regard to effective service delivery. The appointment of Hon. Balaam Barugahara as Minister for Local Government is something I found worthy celebrating.
Many looked down upon him with claims that he was not politically astute enough but I chose to think otherwise. The Ministry he was given is very key in the implementation of the President’s manifesto. Many forget that service delivery is actually highly determined by the Local Government operations. However much you talk about the release of Billions of Shillings to improve Education in the country, without ensuring that the delivery wing at the Local Government level is fully operational, it will remain a piss in the wind.
We have seen what the minister has done in Jinja District where the CAO was given marching orders, Bulambuli District where the nakedness of the District Engineer was exposed, Nabumali, where a School Headmaster got arrested for inflating student numbers among other exploits.
This has created a very big buzz in Butaleja District one of the most notoriously corrupt districts in the Country. It is hard to point out a well executed activity in our district ever since we got District status 21 years ago. Numerous younger districts have surpassed us in performance.
One of the only outstanding well executed Government projects in Butaleja District is the renovation of Busolwe General Hospital and the reason for that is largely due to the charisma and anti-corruption stand of the former Hospital Board Chairman who happens to be the author of this very article.
Hon. Balaam, we welcome you to Butaleja with open arms and as you prepare to come over, please take note of the following by arming yourself with advance information through reports from the DISO’s office among other channels;
Education – This is performing poorly in the district and among the issues keeping us lagging behind is the way the department is run. Some of the issues are:
- Recruitment and posting of staff. Too much corruption involved in this process and numerous unqualified personnel have been given placements
- Absentee workers
- Misuse of the Education Grant
- Poor construction of school structures
- Siphoning of Development fees collections in UPE and USE Schools
- Irregular UNEB registration charges for UPE and USE candidates
- Hot air supplies to schools
Engineering – This department ropes in the construction of structures, roads as well as water supply. Some of the issues worth noting are;
- Butaleja House that has had over 3 Billion Shillings spent but is no different from a Karamojong cattle kraal. A starting point here is investigating how the monies the central Government sent to the district over the past two financial years for this building were spent.
- Busolwe House, like Butaleja House, this is also a den of financial misappropriation and as is the norm, the district officials prefer using the Force on Account to manage these projects with the goal of using money without following proper accountability in order to ease theft.
- Road Grant is one of the most highly misappropriated monies. I know for sure that the DISO’s office has a damning report on the gross abuse in this regard. I once got a briefing on this from one of the staff therein and I am sure you will have a good harvest here.
- Mazimasa Health Centre III and Budumba Health Center IV construction projects are plastered with a lot of financial epilepsy. Pay keen attention on the value for money released for these projects.
- Muhula and Nakwasi Seed Schools construction also exhibit acute financial hemorrhage and the impunity exhibited by the project handlers is worse than that of the referee who handled the Egypt Vs Argentina FIFA World Cup game recently.
- Butaleja SSS is another school whose construction monies developed wings and the contractor for long was being protected by the previous LCV Chairman in cahoots with some Government officials.
- Water. Borehole construction has become one of the biggest cash cows for illicit dealers in the district. You can look into this too. There is high financial diversion here when you compare the work alleged to have been done versus monies released. In some cases boreholes constructed by NGOs are accounted for as done by the Local Government.
Health – The state of most Health facilities is worrying in the district. The way they are run calls for serious concern. The problem starts with the Government support that tends to be lame duck in nature hence giving some of the staff an opportunity to become extortionists.
Most of these facilities are conduits for some Local Government staff to siphon money from the Government coffers. A simple audit of just two quarters of the previous financial year will be eye opening. Take a look at Nabiganda Health Centre IV and Naweyo Health Centre as samples.
Production – This encompasses sectors like Agriculture that are at the core when it comes to the economic artery of the district. Interest yourself in the following;
- The multimillion dollar equipment received from China that had Combine Harvesters, Mills among other agro-machinery. You will be shell shocked upon learning where it has ended up.
- Some equipment supplied by GoU like tractors for farmer groups developed wings and are not available. A case study worthy pursuing is the Tractor for Busaba.
- Micro-irrigation implementation is highly wanting and when one looks at how the monies were spent, you can develop high blood pressure. Imagine accountability that is dominated by feeding meeting participants, supplying project jackets and fueling of cars. An inquiry is in order on farmer adoption and whether the beneficiaries ended up being the very individuals meant to spread out these facilities.
District Service Commission – The story on how this has been mismanaged under the current position holders is so agonizing. You will need to have a special commission set up to investigate the rot here considering that it is even headed by someone purportedly regarded as a gate keeper to God.
PDM – Hon Balaam, if there is any Government program that has been serially raped with utmost impunity in the district, it is this one. Sample Kaiti in Naweyo Subcounty and Busolwe Town Council.
Way Forward
Without flinching, I do request that you get a prior briefing on the issues raised here and others from the requisite stakeholders you have access to in the district. The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.
On behalf of the Butaleja Liberation Front, I welcome you to Butaleja and do not hesitate to reach out to us for possible accompaniment as you tour our beloved district, the Rice Capital of Uganda.
Huhusangaliye.
James Wire
Community Advocate
Fmr. Board Chairman, Busolwe General Hospital
Butaleja District
X – @wirejames
The Wire Perspective 