March 13th, 2024, The State House Anti-Corruption Unit, along with the Minister of Economic Monitoring Hon. Akello Beatrice Akori and Directorate of Anti-Corruption Task Force-ISO, visited Bukedi Sub-region to monitor the implementation of central and local government programs. This visit is aimed at ensuring that government projects are being implemented and are beneficial to the residents.
Bukedi Sub-region comprises 10 districts including; Tororo, Serere, Butaleja, Kaberamaido, Soroti, Palisa, Budaka, Ngora, Kibuku, and Busia. The monitoring exercise began in Tororo District and Municipality where the team inspected projects such as Maliri PDM SACCO in Merikiti Sub-County, where 121 individuals have benefited with 95 receiving UGX1M each and 26 receiving UGX500,000 each. The team also observed the upgrade of Kamuli Health II to III, where they found staff absconding and neglecting their duties, as well as experiencing drug stockouts. Furthermore, the construction of Tororo High Court was found to be well-managed and supervised by a team from the judiciary led by the Registrar.
There was an illegal construction of a petrol station and encroachment on the road reserve adjacent to the land of Standard Gauge Railway services. It was noted that fraudulent acquisition of the title by the developer and approval by Municipal staff had occurred, which requires further investigation.
In Kaberamaido, the monitoring exercise uncovered allegations of extortion and illegal charges totaling to Ugx28 million from over 1880 UPE candidates for the e-registration service, which is supposed to be free. Additionally, there were reports of mismanagement of Emyooga funds. As a result, the officers in charge of these projects were arrested.
