Stop charging for stamping documents, minister tells LCs

The Minister of Local Government, Mr Raphael Magyezi, has directed village chairpersons to stop charging residents for stamping on their documents and other services.

 He issued the directive while addressing leaders during a cadre training held at the Northern Uganda Youth Development Centre in Omoro District last Wednesday.

  Mr Magyezi said the local council chairpersons were given the stamps not to make money but assist community members in accessing services.

 “We have given them official stamps to ease their work because they certify certain official documents; for example when I want to register for a passport, I need a stamp of the LC1 chairpersons, even court sometimes requires confirmation from the LC1 chairpersons,” Mr Magyezi said.

 Mr Magyezi said the stamps have security features where if any LC leader makes a mistake and the stamp appears on any document, the Ministry of Local Government can trace it back to that leader.

 “Let’s not use these stamps to make taxes which are not legal in Uganda; we do not have stamp duty at LC level so for you to demand a payment before putting a stamp on a document can be a challenge and you will get into trouble,” he said.

 Mr Magyezi added: “We know that we are paying you very poorly, about Shs10,000 per month, which is Shs120,000 per annum and it is very little but it does not justify imposing on the community a tax, which does not appear anywhere in our statute. I have heard that in some areas, a chairperson will demand a certain percentage over a transaction like land; you are doing it illegally. It is not legal.”

 Mr Jimmy Okoyo,  the LC I chairperson  of Acet Central Cell, Acet Town Council in Omoro, told Daily Monitor that it is true that they charge money to stamp on documents.

 Mr Okoyo said even some people willingly offer them a token of appreciation for working on their documents, especially land transactions, and animal transits among other issues they handle.

 “Some people will give you between Shs2,000 and Shs10,000 as a token of appreciation for helping them without you asking. So, as a chairperson, you use such money to buy some water for the office,” Mr Okoyo said.

 Mr Geoffrey Okello,  the LC2 chairperson of Labora, however, urged his colleagues to stop charging fees.

“I know that some LCs charge poor people to work on their documents. I appeal to them that let’s stand by our people and work for them. They voted us in offices and next time they may choose to vote you out,” Mr Okello said.

Ms Agnes Lakot, a resident of Pece Pawel Central Cell in Gulu City told this publication that giving leaders money or things in kind as tokens of appreciation is not bad.

However, she recalled when an LC1 chairman charged her family Shs100,000 during a land purchasing process. Ms Lakot said the chairman demanded 10 percent of the cost of land from the seller and the buyer, which she was unfair.

“ I have given my LC1 chairman between Shs2,000 and Shs5,000 as a token of appreciation, and he did not ask for it but the charging of 10 percent on land transactions by the LCs is the thing that I see is not good. I remember we even paid about Shs100,000 to the LC when we purchased our land,” Ms Lakot said.

Ms Jennifer Acen, a resident of Pagoro Kal Village in Amuru District, said some leaders demand money because it is used to buy stationery and other items for their offices.

Ms Acen said the government should increase the pay of the LC chairpersons from Shs10,000 per month to can enable them to work well and equip their offices with stationery.

“They ask us for money to buy pens and papers; they call it ‘leb kalam’ in Acholi, meaning the money for paying for writing a letter but I ask the government to increase the payment of our LC leaders. Shs10,000 is not enough for them,” Ms Acen said.