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Engineers on the spot over misuse of funds in Sironko

The Budadiri West MP, Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi (writing), and other area leaders inspect a road district officials claimed to have worked on in Bukhulo Sub-county, Sironko District. PHOTO/YAHUDU KITUNZI

What you need to know:

  • The engineers have been interdicted after leaders unearthed ghost roads in Sironko District.

Sironko District officials have been accused of allegedly misusing funds allocated for the construction of roads in the district.

The accused officials included the district engineer who reportedly failed to account to a team of local leaders and residents who were assessing and monitoring of roads in the district last week.

The team, headed by Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, the Budadiri West MP, unearthed ghost roads and fraud in the management of road funds.

During the monitoring, leaders found out that in sub-counties, where district officials had reported that roadworks had been completed, the said roads were impassable because they had been covered by overgrown grass.

In Bukhulo Sub-county, Mr Mafabi noted that there was a road he had financed for maintenance but was listed among the district’s completed roadworks.

“The road, which I funded for maintenance was falsely included in the district’s report as one of the roads allegedly worked on by the district local government. This is theft of the highest order,”Mr Mafabi said.

However, during the monitoring exercise, the assistant district engineer failed to provide a clear response regarding the discrepancy. Shortly after, he disappeared.

The district engineer and his assistant have since been interdicted over allegations of fraud.

Mr Mafabi embarked on the monitoring exercise alongside key district leaders, including Sironko chief administrative officer (CAO) Nelson Kirinda, Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Denis Bulwaniregha Ephraim, and all district councillors.

In a January 14 letter, the CAO, Mr Kirenda, said two engineers were interdicted over misuse of funds for roadworks under the Uganda Road Fund programme from the Financial Year 2021/2022 to date.

“In particular there was a case of roadworks in Mafudu Sub- county, which were done using materials donated by Mr Nathan Nandala Mafabi, MP for Budadiri West, but which you personally accounted for as part of the work done by the district using district resources. This act on your part is tantamount to false accounting and causing financial loss which is contrary to the provisions of the Uganda Public Service Standing Orders (2021),”the interdiction letter reads in part.

The CAO accuses the interdicted engineers of reporting that various road works were completed under the Uganda Road Fund programme and yet the works are either not done or they are incomplete.

The Sironko District Chairperson, Mr David Livingstone Giruli, admitted that the engineering department faced significant challenges, including poor oversight.

“Some of the councillors were being compromised to support questionable actions. I promise to take steps to improve service delivery and prevent such incidents in the future,”Mr Giruli said.

He said some of the roads like Bukhulo-Naluhuba were not worked on and yet officials claimed their works were completed in the Financial Year 2021/2022.

Mr Joshua Asiri, a resident of Bunyakelo Village, Bukhulo Sub-County, said poor state of roads in areas is failing the implementation of government programmes including PDM.

“We have suffered enough with these impassable roads. It’s even more painful that the district officials have been embezzling funds meant to construct this road,”Mr Asiri said.

Ms Dorothy Aguti, the district councillor for Bukhulo Sub-county, said some roads in the district have taken over 15 years without being worked on.

“The roads are put in the annual budget but there is always no work done,”Ms Aguti said.

Mr Mafabi said about 94 percent of the district's roads are in a deplorable state due to allegations of embezzlement and mismanagement of funds intended for their repair and maintenance.

The legislator, who is also the chairperson of Bugisu Cooperative Union, said the district officials also presented Mafudu-Nampanga Road as rehabilitated by the district and yet it was worked on by the Chinese.

“The district officials further claimed to have worked on the Konge-Namatyale Road in Bugambi Sub-county that connects Sironko and Mbale District but when we visited the place we discovered the opposite and the people are suffering,” he said.

According to Mr Mafabi, during the monitoring exercise, the team also discovered that the district allocated Shs150 million to work on Bumirisa-Bunazami Road but the roadworks have not been completed.

The state minister for Karamoja Affairs, Ms Florence Wamala Nambozo, who is also the Woman MP for Sironko, decried the high levels of corruption in the district.

“We need accountability because bridges were washed away and never worked on and money was embezzled,”Ms Nambozo said.

However, the interdicted district engineer, Mr Andrew Wasukira, dismissed the allegations, saying they worked on six roads and two bridges in the FY 2023/2024.

“We worked on six roads including Konge-Nawolo, Busamaga-Bukiyiti, Kibembe-Bunatanyi, Buhugu-Nandere, Bunazami-Bumirisa. Currently Sironko stands at 80 percent in terms of road completion,” Mr Wasukira said.

He said in the Financial Year 2023/2024, the district received Shs130 million. “Out of that Shs70 million was given to road gangs [groups employed to carry out routine maintenance and rehabilitation of district and urban roads] and the balance was for operations,” he said.