Wakiso District officials have come under intense scrutiny over the poor recovery and accountability of nearly Shs40 billion disbursed to youth and women groups under the government’s Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP).
The officials, led by Wakiso District Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Luke Lokuda, appeared before Parliament’s Local Government Committee to respond to queries raised in the Auditor General’s report for the 2024/25 financial year.
The committee, chaired by Mukono Municipality MP Betty Nambooze, questioned the district’s management of the revolving funds, particularly the identification of beneficiaries and the failure to recover money advanced to various groups.
Nambooze raised concerns that some of the beneficiaries listed by the district could not be traced, while others allegedly admitted that funds meant for organised groups were shared among individuals.
“We tried calling some of the members of the women’s groups, but some of them, the numbers are not reachable. Other beneficiaries said they shared the money among themselves and supporters of NRM. The beneficiaries are the same people; it’s a cartel of people,” Nambooze told the committee.
She questioned how Wakiso, regarded as one of Uganda’s leading districts, could allow government funds to remain unrecovered while officials failed to adequately account for their management.
Nambooze also accused some district officials of negligence in following up beneficiaries and recovering the funds, warning that individuals found responsible should be held accountable.
The committee subsequently directed Wakiso District Community Development Officer Robert Sekasi to report to the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CIID) to record a statement over the allegations.
The directive followed revelations that Sekasi receives Shs5 million every quarter for field supervision of the programmes. His name also reportedly surfaced in relation to a list containing alleged ghost or unreachable beneficiaries.
The committee wants investigators to establish whether there was negligence or misconduct in the identification and supervision of beneficiaries and the subsequent recovery of the funds.
Nwoya County MP Denis Geoffrey Opiyo meanwhile asked Wakiso officials to implement the Auditor General’s recommendation concerning the valuation of government assets.
Opiyo questioned whether a government valuer had physically inspected the district assets, including vehicles reportedly earmarked for disposal.
Busongora County North MP Sowedi Kitanywa also faulted the district for failing to provide the committee with the government valuer’s report.
The lawmakers were particularly concerned about the low recovery rate of funds compared with the amounts disbursed.
In one case presented before the committee, only Shs23 million had been recovered from a total of Shs3 billion advanced to beneficiaries.
Kitanywa also raised concerns about persistent shortages of medicines at health facilities in Wakiso, warning that the problem was undermining service delivery.
“We want the district to improve service delivery so that Ugandans get value for money and high-quality services. What actions are you putting in place to ensure this is realised?” he asked.
The Local Government Committee is scheduled to conduct an oversight visit to Wakiso District on Friday to verify beneficiaries of the YLP and UWEP funds and inspect government assets listed for disposal.
The committee will use evidence gathered during the field visit to inform its report and recommendations to Parliament.
Nambooze has also directed CIID to investigate the allegations involving the district Community Development Officer, with the outcome of the inquiry expected to form part of the committee’s report.
Responding to the concerns, CAO Luke Lokuda told the committee that files and reports concerning officers and groups suspected of misappropriating or failing to account for revolving funds had already been handed over to police for criminal investigations.
The committee is expected to await the outcome of both the police investigations and its own field verification before making further recommendations on the recovery of the funds and accountability for any officials found culpable.
