Henry Moses Atol
19 November 2008
Kampala — PALLISA district officials have been blamed for politicising and interfering with government programmes geared at development and fighting poverty.
A report released by the district security committee accused Isa Batalib Taligola, the LC5 chairperson and some district officials of sabotage.
Thomas Okoth Nalulu, the resident district commissioner (RDC), said the economic monitoring state minister, Maurice Kagimu, had called for an investigation into the implementation of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF) projects in the district.
He added that there was also a public outcry on the anomalies and irregularities in the implementation of the projects.
Other officials implicated in the report are district vice-chairperson Christopher Ononothe, works secretary Paulo Mulomi and Charles Tamwenya, a district official.
The officials are accused of misappropriation of about sh101.4m, alteration of documents, political interference, omission of the names of beneficiaries and false accountability.
"There were acts of kickbacks to some district officials, non-purchase of budgeted items, over-inflating prices of items like a local goat costing sh155,000 and presenting false accountability by photocopying the same accountability to account for different sub-projects," the report states.
Taligola, however, denied receipt and knowledge of the report, adding that it was baseless and aimed at tarnishing his name.
He said he only received a copy of the letter from minister Kagimu titled "Irregularities in NUSAF sub-projects," which was addressed to the RDC.
"I am hearing this for the first time. I have not seen a copy of this report. I am innocent and know I am being fought politically," Taligola said.
He said projects are generated by the community, while the technical team appraises and approves them. The projects are then referred to the district executive committee.
"I have not heard of any ghost sub-projects in the district and I believe they do not exist. If they exist, the technical committee and the chief administrative officer should be held responsible because they released the money," he said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
