The fight against corruption is one of the demands that the people of Kabarole want the new district council to focus on.
Cases of corruption and mismanagement of funds have been high in Kabarole in the past five years, which resulted into the district being ranked by the Ministry of Local Government as the second most corrupt in the country.
In 2008 and 2010, six officials of the district were arrested on the orders of the Inspector General of Government (IGG) for misusing public funds. The funds were meant for the construction of water sources and roads in rural areas.
In 2009, the public accounts committee indicated that the district had failed to account for over 850 million shillings. The district council appointed five people to investigate the whereabouts of the money but up to date, their findings have never been revealed to the council.
However as the new district council starts work, some residents are asking councilors to ensure that corruption does not return to haunt the district.
At the entrance of the former district headquarters at Mucwa, where the swearing-in function was held, there was a big banner erected by civil society organizations in Kabarole that read ‘People should get the services they need, corruption should be history in Kabarole’.
Margaret Mujungu, a resident of Kiyombya village in Buheesi Sub County, says the new government should fight corruption so that people in rural areas get the services they require as tax payers.
Simon Kajura, a resident of Burungu village in Karambi Sub County says that the district executive committee and councilors should initiate investigations of district officials engaged in corruption tendencies and not wait for the office of the IGG.
Kajura adds that the elected councilors should not leave work to the technical people but should also supervise any construction works in their areas to reduce on cases of shoddy work.
Last year, the district’s public accounts committee published a report indicating that there was little supervision of works by local leaders, which resulted into shoddy work.
###
