Local Government Minister Balaam Barugahara has directed Isingiro District Chief Administrative Officer Alice Rushure, to refund all the money she spent on the Construction of Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development.
Barugahara also directed Rushure, the Natural Resources Officer Emmanuel Bwengye and the District Community Development Officer Arthur Byaruhanga, to record statements with the State House Anti-Corruption Unit.
The issue of the Shoddy works on USMID roads was raised by Moses Mukama Kandiho, the Assistant Resident District Commissioner, Isingiro district, who said that the Bills of Quantities need to be checked and verified to compare whether it is value for money on the roads.
These roads are Sonko, Bidondo, Downtown Road, Market Street Road. Isingiro District is one of the refugee-hosting local governments funded by the World Bank’s Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development (USMID) program, receiving over 36.5 billion shillings for local development projects like roads, markets, and land titles.
Rushure said she was ready to be investigated, noting that she was not charged with certifying the works that were paid, but the then district Engineer Asaph Abeneitwe, who has since been transferred to the Ministry of Education.
She explained that the project was handled by two teams of the district and the Ministry of Works, adding that others at the district who were tasked with the project were the District Natural Resources officer and the District Community Officer.
Barugahara tasked his team to carry out a financial audit on the same road to ascertain whether there was value for money.
He said that the Chief Administrative Officer and the team she worked with deserve a fair hearing, but also he was to request the former district Engineer to be recalled, interdicted and investigated. He also asked them to appear at the Criminal Investigations Department and record statements.
He says he is going to write to the Permanent Secretary of the Local Government ministry to recall her for the investigations to be done without her in office.
Meanwhile, Barugahare also tasked the Rushure to provide his team with all documents, including the Bills of Quantities for the Kikagati Coffee huller under the Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement programme (CAIIP) project that was constructed in 2018, but has never operated.
The issue was raised by the Kikagati Town Council Mayor, Ronald Aryeijuka who said that the Factory equipment was stolen, noting that they wrote several letters to the district accounting officer, but nothing was done-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
