The Sembabule district leadership has tasked the Resident District Commissioner Caleb Tukaikiriza to institute investigations into alleged embezzlement of Emyooga programme funds through ghost enterprise groups.
Sembabule received over two billion shillings which was lent out to 73 enterprise groups in the four constituencies under the Presidential Initiative for Wealth and Job Creation programme (Emyooga). The money was disbursed to Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations – SACCOs where it was supposed to be used as a revolving fund among the benefiting members.
While the district is struggling with an apparent high default rate on loans, it has also emerged that part of the money was reportedly disbursed to nonexistent SACCOs and cannot be traced in the area.
Anifa Kawooya, the State Minister for Health in Charge of General Duties, who is also the Member of Parliament for Mawogola West constituency, indicates that the programme’s payment inventory by the District Commercial Officer has glaring inconsistencies that need to be thoroughly investigated.
Kawooya claims that in her constituency alone, two SACCOs namely; Mawogola West Fishermen and Carpenters Association that appear in the list of Emyooga programme beneficiaries do not exist anywhere in the area. According to records, each of the SACCOs was funded with 30 million shillings in 2021 but they are yet to make any returns.
Kawooya indicates that she has severally made attempts of meeting members of the questioned SACCOs without any success. She also wonders how a district without any fishing ground can have a SACCO for fishermen, suspecting foul play in the programme’s implementation processes.
She has asked the Resident District Commissioner to conduct a verification exercise of all beneficiaries of the programme and accordingly take appropriate actions on persons who are responsible for the mess.
Backer Byayi Ssenyonga, the Chairperson for Mitete Sub County, also challenges the alleged disbursement of the 50 million shillings to the leaders the SACCO, indicating that the funds have never reached them.
He also asked the district security teams to widen their investigations and find out who exactly received the programme funds and the enterprises they are engaged in. He alleges that in some areas, the local programme implementers connived with some unscrupulous money lenders who hurriedly fulfilled the preconditions for funding and eventually borrowed the money at the expense of the real targeted groups.
Caleb Tukaikiriza, the Sembabule Resident District Commissioner confirms receiving complaints of the mismanagement of the government wealth creation programmes in the area, saying he has instructed Simon Peter Ddungu, the District Commercial Officer, to provide him with the funds disbursement schedules and contacts of all beneficiaries to aide in investigations.
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