Top officials of the Entebbe City Council are in the news for failing to explain the recovery of a $1.2 billion loan given under the Youth Livelihoods Program (YLP) and the Uganda Women’s Entrepreneurship Program (UWEP).
Members of Parliament from the Public Accounts Committee (Local Government) were dismayed that officials were strangely inquisitive during their review of Entebbe City Council’s Auditor General’s report on Thursday, 31 August 2023 for the financial year ending 30 June 2023.
YLP and UWEP were established by the government to uplift the economic status of indigenous youth and women. These programs are designed to eradicate poverty and promote employment opportunities by providing targeted financial assistance to beneficiary groups.
“If you do not recover these funds, there is a risk that the programs will not deliver the expected results; It is noted that a lot of money is still due and there is no indication that the entity is doing anything extraordinary to recover the money so that other beneficiaries can be benefitted,” said the principal counsel for the committee and Hoima East Division. said the Member of Parliament. , The Honorable Patrick Isingoma.
Failure to repay the YLP and UWEP funds resulted in accumulated funds resulting in a financial loss of Shs 1.2 billion to the government in Entebbe City Council.
David Senyonzi, the municipal senior community development officer, told the committee that initiatives to recover the funds were made despite the fact that their performance was not up to the mark.
“We are making some improvements as far as UWEP and YLP are concerned, though not as expected; We have also taken measures to ensure that women and youth pay that money. However, we also face a lot of challenges in recovering money. He said.
Senyonzi’s presentation inspired Hon. Gilbert Olanya, chairman of the committee and Member of Parliament for Kilak South County, blamed municipal officials for recovering the money.
“How much did you give to the youth and women and how much was recovered?” He asked.
Seeming unsure of his response, Senyonzi said that he did not have a fair amount of money. He stammered, “We have 149 – sorry, I probably don’t know the exact figures.”
To Hon. Isingoma, the Municipal Officer did not do any work regarding the recovery and was wasting the time of the Committee.
“From the conduct of this officer, you can also see that he has done nothing on the ground; But I don’t know why he can’t be candid with the committee instead of wasting our time; Just say that you have not done anything so that we can guide you on what to do,” he said.
The members questioned how the officials are in charge of the money but are still unaware of the quantum of money distributed to the youth and women. “Do you want the community to believe that you ‘eaten’ this money in collusion?” asked the Hon. Olanya.
Municipal deputy town clerk Ayesha Kitenda expressed regret that the officer had just been appointed to the office.
“The officer has recently taken over as officiating City Community Development Officer after superannuation. We apologize for any errors in this; The officer is not even old in Entebbe, so the information may not have crossed his mind,” he said.
In an attempt to clarify the question, the Municipal Town Clerk, Emmanuel Mugisha said that they have recovered Shs 13 million which has been transferred to the Consolidated Fund.
Rejecting the City Clerk’s argument, Hon. Olanya said that they cannot recover what they do not know.
“You must know how much you were given to set your goal. You don’t know how much you were given but you are recovering, what are you recovering? on Tuesday [05 September 2023] You will give us more details on the recovery as well as the fund situation in Entebbe,” he said.
