Civil servants in Nakaseke District have refused to stay in the houses that were built for them at 127 million shillings.
Last year, the district built three houses for the Chief Administrative Officer and junior staff to reduce on absenteeism and cut on transport costs but no civil servant is willing to stay in the houses. The houses have been temporarily turned into stores and offices of education department.
Joseph Ssematiko, a resident in Butalangu town council, says the district with meager resources managed to erect the houses but most workers in Nakaseke still stay in Luweero town council which is 30 kilometers away while others commute from Kampala which is 90 kilometers away.
Ssematiko explains that civil servants in Nakaseke arrive at work at 11am and leave at 3pm making it difficult to access them in time. He notes that several schools, roads and health centers in the area have been affected by the torrential rains but residents can’t access the district officials to report the issues for action.
Kasolo Ssajabi, the councilor for Kikamulo Sub County, says persistent absenteeism in Nakaseke has affected development in the district. Ssajabi says he is considering moving a motion in the next council meeting for an action to be taken against civil servants who have refused to stay in the houses.
The residents have asked the ministries of local government and public service to stop employing civil servants outside Nakaseke because they don’t want to stay in the district. They also want government to start paying only for the hours and days they worked.
The Nakaseke CAO Joyce Namboozo was unavailable for comment. But some civil servants, who talked to URN Reporter on condition of anonymity, say that the District headquarters which are located at Butalangu are isolated in the bushes with no water, shops, transport and social amenities making it difficult for them to stay in such environment.
The Resident District Commissioner, Geoffrey Kyomukama admitted that civil servants abandoned the houses but defended them claiming that the district headquarters are lacks basic facilities to enable a servant stay around.
Last year, residents and councilors in Kikamulo Sub County demonstrated over absenteeism of sub county civil servants and demanded for immediate transfer of the sub county chief, Peace Bushande Hellen and accounting officer, Eva Nakalembe.
