By Tolit & Agency
The under fire Gulu City officials have ordered for the immediate withdrawal of the restocking forms following the discovery of widespread irregularities in the registration processes of the beneficiaries.
The decision was reached on Monday during a meeting between city officials and town agents at the Gulu City Council boardroom.
This follows reports that those responsible had violated the approved implementation guidelines in the ongoing cattle restocking program targeting vulnerable households in Northern Uganda.
Registration of beneficiaries for the cattle restocking programme has been ongoing for the past few weeks, targeting 21 eligible households in each of the 32 parishes across Gulu city.
The programme being implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), is intended to support households with a cash grant of 5 million shillings, equivalent to five cows, targeting vulnerable communities in Acholi, Lango, and Teso sub-regions.
The city officials came under fire for issuing and requiring the purported beneficiaries of the cattle restocking program to sign declaration form acknowledging the receipt of funds before the payment.
According to a statement issued by the office of the Prime Minister, the pre-signing of the receipt declaration creates a risk of false financial accountability, exposes vulnerable beneficiaries to fraud and its an abuse of trust by those mandated to implement the programme on behalf of the government.
This prompted the Kilak South Member of Parliament, Dr. Gilbert to open a case of fraud and theft against the implicated officials including resident city commissioner Ambrose Onoria, his deputies Kamba Amiri and Peter Banya and the city planner John Luwa Charles.
In response, Gulu City authorities admitted to the irregularities and directed for the immediate withdrawal of the forms as a step toward restoring transparency and ensuring that the beneficiaries receive the intended funds.
Speaking to the press the City Planner John Charles Luwa who also serves as the focal point for the programme acknowledged the oversight and directed the withdrawal of the forms. Luwa also directed all town agents to work closely with Local Council I chairpersons to retrieve the already filled forms by Wednesday. Luwa cautioned town agents in affected areas to correct the anomalies and ensure that only eligible beneficiaries, as outlined in the OPM guidelines, are registered.
Gulu City alone, with a population of 247,560 people and 66,910 households across 32 parishes, has been allocated Shs3.33 billion under the programme, targeting 21 households per parish. According to OPM guidelines, priority beneficiaries include the elderly, former abductees, female-headed households, unemployed youth, persons with disabilities, and widows and widowers.
