The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Resident City Commissioners have blamed the increasing corruption on the unwillingness by the chief administrative officers to fight against the vice.
According to the RDCs, their efforts to fight the vice have been frustrated by the CAOs who have failed to implement recommendations given by various offices on technocrats who have been implicated in corruption scandals.
They also claimed some CAOs, being chief finance officers of the districts connive with heads of departments in the districts, ministries, agencies and departments to swindle public funds.
The RDCs raised the issues to the Minister of Presidency Milly Babalanda and the state Minister for Economic Monitoring Peter Ogwang at Wash and Wills Hotel during a two-day capacity building on economic monitoring and service delivery.
Samuel Mbimbaza Hashaka, the Resident District Commissioner of Bukwo said that the biggest challenge they face is information flow which information flows through the office of the CAO and the officers don’t want to give the information to the RDCs.
He said this has fueled corruption in districts accusing the CAO for Bukwo district Swaib Balaba for being part of the corruption scandals in the district who he said that he has refused to interdict officials who have been implicated in corruption scandals within the district including the district Education Officer whom the IGG recommended to be interdicted.
Hashaka also said that the CAOs connive with officials in the Central government especially in the ministry of finance, local government and some agencies to fail implementation of projects such that money is returned and they share it.
Stanely Bayoole, the RDC Bulambuli said that there is a big gap between the CAO’s office and that of the RDC which has made the fight against the corruption hard and that some of them are not willing to discipline the junior officers who implicated in corruption scandals.
He said that the CAOs ought to be taken for refresher courses especially in patriotism such that they learn to love their country.
Pamela Watuwa, the RDC Manafwa said that there is need for the Ministry for presidency to hinge on a multi sectoral approach in addressing the challenges that the RDCs face especially in the area of information sharing which help them to monitor government projects.
The RDCs complaints stemmed from the Minister Babalanda’s complaint that the RDCs are among the people perpetuating corruption in their respective districts.
Babalanda who is attending the meeting virtually said that some of the RDCs have neglected their duties because they think that they were appointed in the office as a political reward.
She said that reports by the field monitoring team in the office of the president headed by the Minister Peter Ogwang indicate that the RDCs have failed to monitor government projects and instead connived with district officials to engage themselves in corruption tendencies.
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