The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Leaders in Kigezi sub-region are skeptical about the effective implementation of the Presidential initiative on wealth and job creation program.
The program commonly known as Emyooga targets SACCOs formed in 18 specialized fields that need capital to boost their incomes. Each SACCO will be given 30 million shillings as seed capital while districts will receive 570 million shillings to support the SACCOs.
The targeted groups include bodaboda cyclists, women enterprises, carpenters, tailors, mechanics, blacksmiths, performing artists and fishermen among other groups. But Kisoro district chairman Abel Bizimana says that the implementation of the project may be affected by inactivity resulting from the closure of the Uganda-Rwanda border.
Bizimana says that locals in the targeted group of beneficiaries used to depend on trade between the two countries which suffered a setback when the border was closed 16 months ago yet many of them have been hit even harder by the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown.
Bizimana also wonders how bodaboda cyclists are going to benefit yet they are still being barred from operating. He says that bodaboda cyclists are now difficult to organize a result of redundancy. He was speaking at the launch of the project in Kigezi sub-region at Kisoro district council hall in Kisoro district.
Rubanda County West member of Parliament Engineer Denis Sabiiti Bamwoya says that locals have lost trust in such SACCOs due to corruption and embezzlement by officials responsible for overseeing their implementation. Sabiiti says that the government worsens the matter by failing to punish such perpetrators.
Rubanda Town Council Mayor Norman Tushabe says that in order for the program not to hit a deadlock, responsible officials should first sit with the targeted groups and agree on how to use the money.
Rubanda Woman Member of Parliament Prossy Akampurira Mbabazi says that responsible overseers from the national level should fully sensitize targeted groups than just launching and going away. Akampurira says that such projects are sometimes distorted by district officials.
But Haruna Kasolo, the Minister of State for Micro-Finance says that the issue of how the border closure affected people’s income is beyond him. Kyeyune however says that they had to proceed with the program since COVID-19 has no timeline of being declared under control. He adds that anybody who sabotages the program will be arrested and handled by the State House.
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