Inside Obongi’s four-year accountability report, journey towards prosperity

Obongi, Uganda:- The Chief Administrative Officer for Obongi District Local Government, Mr. Otim Benson Humphrey, has issued an elaborate accountability report on service delivery for the last four years and urged the media to refrain from being agents of harsh propaganda that taints the district’s image.

While addressing journalists during a massive press briefing held at the district headquarters, on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, Mr Otim called for a strenuous effort towards the development of Obongi district which he stresses demands routine, ostentatious and transparent accountability to obviate mutual suspicion and mistrust, besides, to allay the reservations of the populace who are pedantically observing government service delivery.

“The Obongi we want will not come from witchcraft practices or miracles but from a deliberate, well-planned and executed development strategies. I therefore appeal to the onlookers to join hands with technical and elected leaders for a shared responsibility so that we conjointly or collectively own both failures and achievements,” Mr Otim observed during the engagement that also attracted District Chairman Buga Khemis Habib, District Speaker Hon. Abdul Rahaman, members of the District Executive Committee (DEC), and heads of departments.

The media engagements, according to Mr. Otim, are a cautious action to connect the population to the past and the most recent facts on government business transactions because the leaders and civil servants similarly need to be audited by the media and the masses since government workers are holding the offices in trust of the people.

Steady Progress

Obongi District, operational since July 1, 2019, and fully established with an elected government on May 18, 2021, serves a population of 199,565, including 61,332 nationals and 138,233 refugees, according to UBOS and UNHCR figures. The district has achieved various statutory obligations, including the establishment of a District Service Commission, District Land Board, Local Government Public Accounts Committee, and Obongi Health Centre IV Management Committee.

The district has also successfully approved four annual budgets and supplementary budgets, adhering to the 1995 Constitution of Uganda, the 2015 Public Finance Management Act, and the Local Government Act, CAP 138.

In the recent ranking of best-performing districts in the country, Obongi emerged among the top 5 out of 15 implementing the World Bank-funded Development Response to Displacement Impact Project (DRDIP). Between FY 2019/2020 and 2024/2025, the district received UGX 57.2 billion, with UGX 41.6 billion disbursed for various projects.

Under the Investment in Social and Economic Services Infrastructure (SESI) component, 28 sub-projects were funded, with 26 completed. However, Kochi Bridge and the renovation of Palorinya Primary School stalled due to contractor capacity issues and funding gaps.

The district also implemented 155 projects under the Sustainable Environmental and Natural Resources Management component and funded 124 sub-projects under the Livelihood Support Programme (LSP) to boost household incomes.

Shs 7.3bn USMID-AF funds absorbed in record time

The government of Uganda ear marked shs 7.3bn for Obongi district under Uganda Support to Municipal Infrastructure Development-Additional Financing[USMID-AF], the funds was prioritized and utilized for the construction of a Market in Palorinya sub county at a cost of 2.7bn, construction of 2 resource centres at Itula and Palorinya sub counties, to the tune of shs 1.9bn, construction of 10 km Orinya -Kali road at the cost of shs 1.3bn.

The physical development planning component of Obongi district was, however, directly handled by the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, and the accountability in terms of the costs was not availed to the district.

Under the cream and sensitive Parish Development Model(PDM)which President Yoweri Museveni is personally monitoring, the district mobilized 28 PDM SACCOS covering all the parishes, a total of shs 5.8 bn covering 6,761 beneficiaries and the major enterprises undertaken are; Cassava, maize and oil seeds production, Horticulture, produce buying and selling, livestock trade and fish mongering.

Other programs like Emyoga and Presidential initiatives on Youth Skilling are performing well, though there are hiccups; everything possible is being done to ensure they achieve the intended purpose.

Road networks hit 500 km in Obongi

The district road network has increased tremendously from 324 kilometers’ to 500 kilometres. This, according to Otim, was enabled by funds from the central and local governments, the UN refugee Agency and other international NGOs like NURI Save the Children, among others and government programs like DRDIP, USMID AND DINU have made considerable contributions in the roads sector.

The district road network is fairly sufficient in terms of the length but several sections of the roads surface remains in poor condition due to heavy floods occasioning heavy rainfall over the years the situation is exacerbated by the low elevation of Obongi district while lack of full road unit equipment makes it difficult to maintain the road, the district has grader and a wheel loader.

Community Health

Access to safe and clean water has been achieved as safe and clean water coverage has shot to 78% in the financial Year 2023/2024, from 36%in the financial year 2019/2020, and the district has set a target of 85% by the end of financial 2024/2025, while functionality of water points has risen to 85% from 65% when Obongi attained district status and the average walking distance to safe water points has reduced from 3.8 kilometers to 1.4 kilometers’ in rural areas and 0.7 kilometer in Obongi urban council.

A vibrant population is determined by quality health service delivery, Obongi district has 17, health facilities including; 1 health center IV,6 Health center IIIs and 10 health center IIs, the health centers are manned by equal human resource man power which is 79.4%, The health centers are fairly well equipped and drug supplies enhanced with the interventions of Medical Teams International and other NGOs.

Obongi health center IV has been equipped with functional liver and renal function test, and the construction of Surgical ward at Itula health center III with an ably equipped and functional theatre for performing caesarian sections and other medical emergencies.

Since July 1, 2019, Obongi district local government embarked on a deliberate and strategic health infrastructure development to match with the national inclination of health service delivery and cumulatively spent shs 13.9bn. These super projects were attained with support from the central government, UNHCR, other UN Agencies and humanitarian Organizations.

Crude and backward mindset hamper education performance.

The Obongi District Education Officer [DEO] Mr. Patrick Angala justified that good performance in primary school is not about the number of children[candidates] who pass in Division I and II, but the materials or the number of pupils that can be handed to secondary, he said though the trend of performance is deteriorating the overall performance is not discouraging since most of the learners are from the refugees’ population.

Obongi district has 45, primary schools,24 are government aided while 21 are community schools with 33 Early Childhood Development Centers[ECDs]there are 42,129 children in primary education, 26,810 in government schools and 15,319 in community schools, while 8,901 toddlers are in ECD centers. The district has two government-aided secondary schools with 941 students in Itula secondary school and 262 learners in Obongi secondary school.

“In terms of infrastructure the Mr. Angala résumés that the district is doing well since the number of classrooms has increased to 278 from 243 in 2019, teachers’ houses has risen to 176 units up from 54 units in 2019 accommodating 56% of the staffs, the number of desks has also improved from 4,654 in 2019 to 6147 in 2025 and from 315, the number of teachers has shot to 472”.

The biggest impediment to improved performance is the back ward and crude mindset or conviction of the parents who are adamant in sending their children to school early, children report to school in the third week each term, leading to low syllabus coverage, hence by the time they reach primary seven the syllabus covered is cumulatively for primary four.

There is a need for the district council to enact an Education ordinance that will compel all stakeholders to play their role to overturn the low literacy and numeracy, late reporting to school, absenteeism and teenage pregnancy, among other factors that detract learners. The education office will heighten inspections and support supervision to ensure teachers concentrate and deliver to the expectation, especially in syllabus coverage, according to Mr. Angala.

Call for discipline and harmony.

In his closing remarks, the Obongi district chairman, Mr. Buga lauded the technical team for committing to service delivery despite enormous challenges and appealed for work discipline and coherence among leaders because development cannot be championed through coercion and bullying.

“My office through the council will push for the elevation of Obongi health IV to a general referral hospital which is a health center V so that we avoid referrals of patients to our neighboring districts of Adjumani and Moyo which is hectic and drains a lot of resources both from government and individuals” Mr. Buga pronounced.

RDC Accused of Tarnishing District’s Image

Despite CAO Otim’s positive accountability report, RDC Mpimbaza Hashaka has been accused of mudslinging district officials with unsubstantiated allegations of corruption. Legal experts argue that administrative issues should be addressed internally to avoid unnecessary confrontations.

“It is true some high profile technical officers have been interdicted pending the conclusion of their matters[cases] but that does not necessarily mean they are guilty, it’s on record only one staff has been dismissed on account of forging academic documents and non has been dismissed over corruption connected charges”. A legal expert retorts.