Mbale City officials accused of non-performance, corruption and sabotage of gov’t programmes

Mbale, (UG):- Technocrats at Mbale City’s Industrial Division has been accused by their political counterparts of non-performance, corruption and sabotage of government programmes, regardless of the fact it is a big revenue earner as compared to the other divisions in the City.

Led by their Speaker, Hon Kasaija Musa Ndago, the councillors on Tuesday 7th May 2024, stormed out of a council session demanding allowances and accountability for various works and projects which were supposed to be implemented within the division.

According to Hon. Kasaija, “Decentralisation was designed to ensure services trickle down to the common man but wondered why it is not the case with their division”. As he led the Councillors to the Resident City Commissioner’s (RCC) office, he said that.

“If the officers are not able to deliver services to the division they should be fired and a new team is assigned to serve the purpose, by the concerned Ministry”.

Last month the DailyExpress reported how, “Residents in Mbale Industrial City Division expressed discontentment over the poor and abandoned works on Kaguta Road, following the arrest of the responsible officials who were accused of stealing construction materials of the project in March. The Road which is named after President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, holds historical significance as one of his escape routes during his time in the bush.

Hon. Moses Mugombe representing Wakwabwa Central Ward, at the division, said, “The division is choking with garbage while roads are in a sorrowful state”. He cited the road between Munkaga and Nauyo Primary which has over the years been neglected and has been a major source of accidents”.

In response, the Principal Town Clerk, Mr. Busiku Martin said, “It is true the Division received funding but there were debts that had to be cleared and other priorities which caused a delay of some payments and implementation of projects”.

“Some delays are due to the current system that requires every collection made by the division, to be deposited to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) account before it is transferred in about a month to the division account, unlike in the past when money collected would be accessed in a day, but plans are underway to clear the Councillors allowances and implement stalled projects.”

Meanwhile, in a phone interview with this publication, Mbale Deputy Resident City Commissioner (D-RCC) for Industrial City Division, Banja Hamza acknowledged knowing of the report saying; “It’s true they met with the councillors but cautioned them against closing the division offices”.

“About the accusations they have against officers, they agreed to write to the IGG, for a forensic audit to be carried out so that the culprits are brought to book,” he added.