Inside the slow, winding government food distribution

Relief food. Members of Local Defense Unit offload trucks of maize flour and beans after government started the distribution of relief food to residents of Kampala and Wakiso districts on April 4. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA

What you need to know:

  • Relief minister Musa Ecweru. “In Kampala, we had given ourselves up to today (Friday), but we realised that we could not complete it because there were some stock where the ration went down. So instead of us distributing, say 400 metric tons of beans a day, sometimes we have been distributing 200 metric tons a day.”
  • Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. “That is a bogus list, which is doctored. I have records here from the people who are accompanying that team from within the institution. They brought me that information and said the people who have received food are less than 250,000,”

On Thursday midmorning, at Busega, a Kampala City suburb, a man announced on a megaphone, that the relief food the government promised the residents during the lockdown period had arrived.
“Stay in your homes [to receive the rations],” the man said.
This was supposed to be day 34 of relief food distribution in the districts of Kampala and Wakiso, which the President had ordered to start on April 4.
At the time the exercise was launched, the President had announced a countrywide lockdown to last 14 days in order to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
The 14 days elapsed and the President extended it by another 21 days. These days too elapsed and the President announced more 14 days of lockdown.

Because people, particularly those who live hand-to-mouth, had been locked at home and no longer earned, the President wanted them given relief food, an exercise he projected would last four days, to save them from starving.
On April 4, the exercise was rolled out and was expected to be completed by April 8. However, it took another week before distribution actually started.

Distress
With about a week to the end of the current extension of the lockdown, distressed people in Kampala and Wakiso districts are still crying out for the food.
The cries contradict the official figures from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), which indicate that up to 855,281 residents in Kampala who desperately need food and have already been served, representing 304,242 homesteads.
The figures have been sharply criticised by Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago who says not more than 250,000 people in Kampala have been served.
“That is a bogus list, which is doctored. I have records here from the people who are accompanying that team from within the institution. They brought me that information and said the people who have received food are less than 250,000,” Mr Lukwago said.
Mr Musa Ecweru, the State minister for Disaster Preparedness and Relief, said the distribution was beset by logistical problems.

“In Kampala, we had given ourselves up to today (Friday), but we realised that we could not complete it because there were some stock where the ration went down. So instead of us distributing say 400 metric tons of beans a day, sometimes we have been distributing 200 metric tons a day. This is because UNBS (Uganda National Bureau of Standards) rejects what they consider substandard (food items) and so we distribute only the ones which they have passed. Our thinking is that by Monday (tomorrow), we ought to have concluded Kampala,” Mr Ecweru said.
Mr Ecweru said while there were anomalies in supplies, most of the issues have been addressed and the distribution team is on course to complete the exercise in Kampala and Wakiso, then roll it out to other parts of the country.

“Now what is remaining is with the guidance of our leaders, when we are done with Kampala and Wakiso, the difficult areas, then we might have to do a slum in Jinja, Moroto, Arua and those other towns which are also in similar situations. Those other towns where people have options for planting some vegetables we shall not, but these other ones, we shall help them,” he said.
Over a period of time, the 1.5m people that OPM say are in dire need of food is itself a matter of contention, with some saying the number is too high and others saying it is too low.
Mr Ofwono Opondo, the executive director of the Uganda Media Centre, through which official government information is channeled, in a blogpost on April 30 said the number of people who needed relief food in Kampala Metropolitan was grossly underestimated.

He said government agencies responsible for data collection and analysis necessary for effective decision-making and implementation have been found “inadequate, incompetent, disorganised”, and perhaps “deliberately inefficient, and facilitating conspiracy, fraud and corruption so that individuals can benefit through underhand methods.”
“Of the 1.5m targeted to receive food, only half have been served by mid this week,” Mr Opondo wrote.

At the time, top officials in OPM, including Permanent Secretary Christine Guwatudde, had been arrested over procurement of the relief food. They were charged, among other things, with inflating prices of food. The other officials arraigned together with Ms Guwatudde are Mr Joel Wanjala (Under Secretary and accounting officer), Mr Martin Owor, (commissioner disaster preparedness, and head of the Covid-19 taskforce), and Fred Lutimba (assistant commissioner in charge of procurement).

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago (left) and Relief minister Musa Ecweru. FILE PHOTOS

Cartels
Mr Opondo said the arrest of the six senior officials had further slowed implementation as new duty bearers had to appointed and approved.
“The arrest exposed the entrenched racketeering between government officials and private business people who have been managing relief, especially among refugees, and communities displaced by natural disasters like landslides in the Elgon region,” Mr Opondo claimed.

Mr Opondo also argued that many of the ‘big’ private business companies that have been supplying OPM and the UN system are cartels that work through conspiracies and don’t adhere to transparent business practices, including on pricing, verifiable quantities and quality of items delivered into the stores.
“As cartels, they are often in the habit of spreading false business information against each other or potential new competitors as a way of getting selected to supply government and the UN agencies,” Mr Opondo added.

Mr Ecweru said some of the issues raised are true, and that steps have been taken to address them. He said working with the Uganda National Bureau of Standards, they have made sure all the food supplied is tested before delivery.
“What we agreed with the UNBS is that they go to the suppliers and take samples from their stores and what they pass fit will be supplied and what they reject will not be supplied to us. That is how it has helped, otherwise, initially they would bring to the stores and analyse and would reject it from there and this would cause a lot of paralysis,” he said.

The minister also said they have removed the monopoly of the big suppliers, paving way for those in rural areas to supply food for the emergency.
According to him, currently more than 80 suppliers have been contracted to supply to the OPM, though he kept the list to his chest.
“What we have decided to do is to open up to about 82 rural people because initially, there used to be those big companies and big guys monopolising supplies. We talked to the PPDA to bend that condition of prequalification and allow people to supply us using the emergency provision on condition that they supply something that is good for human consumption,” Ecweru said.

Accountability, diverted funds
Cries have come from all corners of how Covid-19 has opened avenue for those in position to swindle funds from the Treasury for their own selfish interests.
A few weeks ago, government tabled a supplementary budget of Shs304b much of the funds went to Health and Security. Parliament also had a good share of the loot drawing sharp criticism from the public.
Institutions such as KCCA, OPM and others all had shares of the money. Specifically for the relief aid, Shs59b was allocated to procure food for those in dire situation.
According to Lord Mayor Lukwago, what has been distributed does not even represent a quarter of the funds allocated.

“The distribution has turned out to be a farce. It is actually a huge scandal because the food so far distributed cannot even account for a quarter of the money which was allocated to the Office of Prime Minister for that particular purpose. Those who have received food are less than 250 thousand people and you can imagine we are in the fifth week of the lockdown, only remaining with about one week,” he charged.
Mr Lukwago also claimed that within the KCCA, Shs1b was misused by the minister for Kampala and demanded that the money be returned to the institution.

“We are demanding Shs1 billion to be returned to KCCA because of the Shs2b given to KCCA, the minister for Kampala took away Shs1b when they don’t even have any Covid related activity they are involved in. They are not buying sanitisers, protective gear or doing anything. All those activities are centred here at KCCA so what did they take that money for?” he charged.
Ms Betty Amongi, the minister for Kampala, could not be reached to explain how the Shs1b was taken away and for what purpose because her mobile phone was not accessible. Minister Ecweru, however, said the issue of accountability will be handled once the crisis sorted out.

“You cannot account when you have not finished the work. When all this is done, I am going to report to Parliament and government on how much money has been spent and if there is any surplus remaining; what shall use it for and all other issues,” he said.
“The situation is very dire. I have never been involved in operations like this involving slums. Usually in our relief operations, you go to a camp where people are displaced, you just handle that and it works. But this one of the slums is very tricky,” he said.

What needs to be done?
Food depots. Mr Lukwago said he has singlehandedly spent more than Shs30m to feed desperate people in Rubaga who have not received any relief food from the government. He advised government to move very fast to set up food depots at division headquarters and involve all the leaders in the distribution exercise.
“What they should do is whatever food remains there should be brought to the division headquarters, they create depots there and we distribute it randomly. Within two to three days that exercise can be completed if they get all of us involved. We the elected leaders from KCCA were thrown out from distributing the food aid and they claimed politicians should not take part, but the people they brought in are politicians and you wonder what government has in plan.”