Come for your Covid-19 Allowances – Adjumani CAO tells angry VHTS, LC I Chairpersons

ADJUMANI, UGANDA: The long-awaited covid-19, allowances for the Village Health Teams [VHTs] and LC1 chairman persons will be paid next week, Adjumani CAO, Mr. Wanje Michael has announced.

Wanje’s statement comes at the backdrop of an ultimatum issued last week by the state minister for local government Victoria Busingye that all covid-19, response allowances be paid in full by August 27, 2021.

The minister then wondered why it was taking long to pay the allowances when government disbursed the money long ago and the beneficiaries are also within the district.

Addressing district covid-19, task force on Thursday this week, CAO Wanje explains that the delay in payment was caused due the inability by the district to access all the shs 84m required for the payment at once since the district uses the integrated financial management system.

Wanje said the system has been programmed on a cash limit of shs 40m per month for the entire district noting that the best option could be making payments through the beneficiaries’ bank accounts but most of them do not have them.

There are two VHTs in all the 109 villages in the district including all the LCI chairpersons who are illegible to receive the covid-19, response cash and according to the district CAO the cash is now ready.

However several LCI chairpersons and VHTs said they are not comfortable with the rhetoric of CAO Wanje over the payment of their hard deserved allowances all they want is to receive the cash.

The sub-County chairman Pachara Kanzo Kennedy wonders why the sub-county task forces have been excluded from the Covid-19, response cash when they did spadework.

The disbursement of the allowances will start on Tuesday, September 7, 2021, leaders of the district covid-9, task force, the RDC, LCV chairman and CAO will oversee the exercise.

Adjumani district has received shs 236m from central government for facilitating covid-19, response, shs 84m has been budgeted for the allowances of VHTs and LCI chairpersons, while the reminder covers wide-ranging administrative costs.

The fund covers the months of July, August, and September since the pandemic hit the country last year March, Adjumani has recorded 15, corona-related deaths and over 800 people tested positive.