The focal person for Nothern Uganda Social Action Fund II programme in Nwoya and Amuru districts has been fired for alleged incompetence and corruption.
John Bosco Olum is accused of failing to implement NUSAF II activities in the two new districts causing them to miss out on two phases of funding.
Robert Lim-Lim, the NUSAF II Executive Director, executed the sacking and asked the police to investigate Olum for failing to account for the 63 million shillings he received for mobilization.
Olum's trouble started after Amuru and Nwoya districts raised just one sub-project in Pabbo Sub-County worth 19 million shillings during the first funding of NUSAF II.
In the second phase not even a single sub-project was approved for funding and no clear reasons given for that.
According to a document obtained by URN, at least each of the 54 districts in which NUSAF II is being implemented, raised more than 20 sub-projects worth over one billion shillings in the first and second phases.
It is only Amuru and Nwoya which performed dismally.
This caused concerns in the Office of the Prime Minister, which oversees the development programme, prompting the NUSAF II executive director to intervene.
Limlim accused Olum of causing the innocent beneficiaries to suffer and die of poverty by missing out on funding.
He wondered why the the local focal office could fail to implement the programme yet they were given all the necessary facilitations and guidelines.
A crestfallen Olum apologized for the mess but shifted the blame to the sub-county authorities whom he claimed failed to do their work of mobilising the communities.
Amuru Chief Administrative Officer, Martine Kisule, also apologized for the mess and promised to take serious actions against any civil servant who frustrate government programmes.
Amuru RDC, Milton Odongo, asked lazy civil servants to go and work in their gardens if they do not want to serve the population.
The LC5 chairman, Louis Omac Atube, said it was a big shame for a programme like NUSAF II to fail in the district.
Nwoya RDC, Semei Okwir, asked the Office of the Prime Minister to open a separate account for Nwoya district and appoint its own focal point person.
NUSAF II is a 100-million-dollar follow up programme on NUSAF I. It is aimed at helping households generate income in disadvantaged districts in northern and eastern Uganda.
The programme, financed by the Government through an investment loan from the World Bank and the United Kingdom, covers over 50 districts in Acholi, Bukedi, Bunyoro, Elgon, Karamoja, Lango, Teso and West Nile.
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