The Emyooga national office has warned leaders in the Bugisu region that poor recovery of government funds could affect future disbursements under the programme. The warning was issued on Monday during a meeting between the Emyooga national team and leaders from seven districts in the region—Namisindwa, Mbale, Manafwa, Bududa, Sironko, Bulambuli and Mbale City.
The meeting, held at Mbale City Chambers, brought together Resident District Commissioners, LCV chairpersons, town clerks, chief administrative officers and commercial officers, among other officials. Rita Namuwenge, the National Coordinator of Emyooga, said the engagement was intended to establish why recovery of the funds in Bugisu remains low and identify measures to improve repayment.
“Bugisu is one of the regions in the country that has registered poor recovery of Emyooga money, which may affect the disbursement of more funds,” Namuwenge said. She explained that Emyooga operates as a revolving fund, meaning that the government makes additional disbursements to districts based on their recovery rates. Namuwenge said the government has injected about Shs766 billion into the programme since its inception.
John Tulinawe, the Head of Operations at the Emyooga Coordination and Monitoring Unit in State House, said officials would visit each district to obtain details of beneficiaries who received the funds and push for their recovery. Tulinawe warned that beneficiaries who refuse to repay could face arrest and prosecution.
He said security agencies would be involved in tracing defaulters and that those arrested would be taken directly to court for remand rather than being granted bond, in line with new guidelines issued by President Museveni. However, some district officials blamed the poor recovery on beneficiaries who have left the country and confusion over the purpose of the funds.
Bernard Kitongo, the Commercial Officer of Namisindwa District, said some beneficiaries and SACCO leaders had left for neighbouring Kenya and Arab countries, making it difficult to trace them. He also said some beneficiaries believed the money was a presidential handout linked to the 2026 general elections rather than a loan that had to be repaid.
Kitongo urged the government to provide district leaders with alternative mechanisms for recovering the money. Geoffrey Natubu, the LCV Chairperson of Bududa District, said the challenge was also partly due to changes in local leadership, with many of the current leaders having been elected recently and having limited knowledge of the programme.
He said local leaders would work with technical officers to sensitise beneficiaries about the importance of repaying the funds to improve recovery and enable the region to access additional funding. Natubu also cited inappropriate membership of some enterprise groups as another factor affecting recovery.
“Some enterprise groups had members who don’t do the enterprise they indicated for their SACCO. For example, in journalists’ SACCOs, most of the members are not journalists,” he said. Mbale City Deputy Town Clerk Hasoho Jolly urged local leaders to devise new approaches to engage beneficiaries and recover the outstanding funds.
Emyooga records show significant variations in recovery across the region. Namisindwa received Shs1.2 billion and has recovered Shs450.4 million, while Sironko received Shs2.8 billion and has recovered Shs556 million. Bulambuli received Shs1.6 billion and has recovered only Shs240 million, while Bududa received Shs2.5 billion and has recovered Shs534.4 million.
The national Emyooga team said improving recovery remains critical if communities in Bugisu are to benefit from further disbursements under the revolving fund-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
