Kabarole district has failed utilize funds budgeted for the water and road sectors despite the fact that only a few days are remaining to the close of the 2011/2012 financial year.
In the 2011/2012 financial year, Kabarole district council passed a budget of 15 billion shillings. 7 out of the 15 billion shillings was put on the improvement of roads and provision of clean water service to resident. However, only 1 billion shillings was used, depriving residents of services.
Some of the roads that were earmarked for rehabilitation include Harugongo- Kichwamba road, Kijura-Kyeitamba road, Busoro-Kanyamakere and Kanyabeho-Kiko road. However none of the roads have been worked on, making the roads inaccessible especially for the farmers. Moses Mugenyi, a tea farmer in Kijura parish says that they were anxiously waiting for the Kijura-Kyeitamba road to be worked on to ease the transportation of their tea to the factory for sale. Mugenyi says that he and other farmers spend three hours instead of one hour, transporting tea to Kijura tea factory, because of the poor state of the road.
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In Karambi Sub County, several water sources were supposed to be constructed, but there is none. Residents are forced to travel long distances in search of clean water.
Juma Nyende, the Chief Administrative Officer Kabarole, attributes the non utilization of funds to low staffing and late release of funds by central government. Nyende says that the works sector has only two staffs instead of six, who are supposed to monitor activities such as road construction.
He also says that some times, the government releases the funds four months to the end of the financial year, which makes it difficult for the district to implement any activity.
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Paul Kakande, an economist with Kabarole Research and Resource Centre blames it on the bureaucratic tendencies of local governments, where many levels of approval have to be followed before actual project implementation takes place. Kakande says that although bureaucracy is good for accountability it affects timely implementation of activities.
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According to Kakande, non utilization of funds, affects future budgeting because it will be a problem for districts to requisition for more funds.
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