Arua women unearth graft
Women involved in monitoring health and education programmes at grassroots in Arua District have unearthed several irregularities in the sectors.
Women involved in monitoring health and education programmes at grassroots in Arua District have unearthed several irregularities in the sectors.
The women, who have unearthed more than 30 corruption cases in the district in the past six months, found that in some health centres, workers cheat illiterate women by ticking off drugs on their medical forms yet they are not given the medicine.
Ms Amina Mustafah, who monitors Dadamu Sub-county, said: “We discovered that malaria drugs are the first to get finished. Once these drugs arrive, all the relatives of the health workers fall sick and each is given about 10 dozes of the medicine which ends up in their clinics.”
In education, it was discovered that in some primary schools, teachers display false accountability reports while others do not at all.
Mr Joseph Dhinya, an education official in Arua, said the women’s findings showed the problem of lack of transparency in most schools. “It is true in some primary schools head teachers were withdrawing UPE funds without knowledge of school management committees. This has denied pupils access to pit-latrines because the money for their construction is misused,” Mr Dhinya said.
Mr Sabo Kamilo, the chairperson of social services committee said the findings of the women were very crucial. “I will obviously forward them to the relevant sector in the district for action and if the Inspectorate of Government investigates these issues, these people will have questions to answer,” Mr Sabo said.
