Namutumba grapples with Shs300m debt

Residents of Makena village in Namutumba District fetch water from a well. According to the district leaders, budgets for roads and water source have been affected by the Shs300m debt. FILE PHOTO

What you need to know:

  • The debt. Court on January 13, ordered the district local government to compensate John Dhikusooka Shs300m for illegally terminating his contract.

Namutumba District leaders have said a Shs300m debt, that arose from a court compensation is hampering service delivery in the area.
The district chairperson, Mr Saleh Kumbuga, recently told Daily Monitor that the budgets for maintaining the few roads and water sources have been heavily affected by the pending debt.
“We have been getting money for opening up roads and constructing boreholes for all those years when we were not in any deficit but such activities are going to cease because of the Shs300m debt,” Mr Kumbuga said.

Background
On December 24, 2011, Mr John Dhikusooka’s three-year contract for revenue collection in Namutumba Town Council was terminated by the former district chairperson, Mr Mawazi Nyombi and the district contracts committee, just after serving one-and-a-half years.
Mr Dhikusooka petitioned the High Court in Jinja, which, in a January 13, judgment, asked the district local government to compensate him Shs300m.

Although the district collects Shs300m as annual revenue, Mr Kumbuga says the money is not enough to clear the debt and fund the district activities.
“The district will use part of the money it gets from the central government to clear the debt and this means that some civil servants will not get salary for a couple of months,” he said.

With the councillor also set to miss their sitting allowances accumulated over the three years because of the debt, Mr Lastone Mukooli, the councillor for Namutumba Town Council, said none of them will attend meetings without being paid.
“We were not part of the problem, which plunged the district into a deficit. If the district is not in position to pay councillors their sitting allowances, it means that the district local government will spend three years without approved budgets,” he warned.
Ms Mariam Naigaga, the district Woman Member of Parliament, said “Shs300m is a big cost for a small district like Namutumba with almost has no local revenue.”

Service delivery
Ms Naigaga says if the district is to pay Shs300m in compensation of a court case, some activities will be put on hold which will lead to poor service delivery. “What will happen to sub-county and district roads after two to three years of no maintenance? How many lives are we going to lose as a result of people drinking unsafe spring water?’’ she lamented.

Without divulging into details, the district chief administrative officer, Mr Moses Kanyarutokye, said efforts to see that Shs300m is not lost are underway.
The Bulange Sub-county chairperson, Mr Yakut Kasoma, said his area needs Shs150m to work on roads which are currently impassible.
“Our district is charactersed by poor road network, lack of safe water and poor education standards. Instead of the district soliciting Shs300m to work on the roads and construct more boreholes, it is planning on compensating an individual,’’ he said.

But Bulafa Village chairperson, Mr Dauda Mukibi, blamed the mess on the district service commission.
“We would not have had this issue if the district service commission and leaders were united,” he said.

The Namakiba Village chairperson, Mr Rashid Kakaire, suggested that since it is politicians and a few civil servants who caused the mess, they should shoulder the responsibility of paying the costs.
“Let the salaries of the trouble-causers be deducted until the debt is cleared other than causing the innocent people to suffer,” Mr Kakire.