Ntoroko cooperators urged to utilise their SACCOs effectively

NTOROKO – The Ntoroko district Chairperson William Kasoro has urged cooperators to utilise their savings and credit cooperative societies (SACCOs) effectively to buy more shares.

Kasoro said, most of the cooperative members are using their SACCOs only to get loans and in most cases, they default hence leading to their collapse.

He said, he believes in pulling resources as a group which also helps in improving on household income.

“Most members save some little money in SACCOs with an aim of getting loans but keep their huge sums of money in banks. They don’t keep their money with their SACCOs but they want the SACCOs to give them in form of loans” he noted.

Kasoro said, the power of every SACCO is in share capital, the more the shares the more the money.

“I appeal to you to have as many shares as you can and also save some more money so that it can also make more profits through borrowing” he said.

Kasoro further said, this while officiating the Karugutu Cooperative Savings and Credit Society Ltd [KASACCO] Annual General Meeting [AGM] held in Karugutu town.

The KASACCO board Chairperson Ernest Bwambale appealed to members to continue mobilizing for the SACCO so as to increase their membership, shares and savings.

“There has been a great improvement in all aspects in membership, savings, loans, shares and profitability which gives a great picture of sustainability but we still need to continue mobilizing more members” Bwambale noted.

He also said through intensive mobilization especially in areas of Bundibugyo, there has been an increase of membership by 696 members 2916 in 2020 to 3600 in 2021 and over 100 accounts were reactivated.

Bwambale said, their 2022 membership projection is at 4320 members

“This year’s share capital projection is at Shs 200m and savings is projected at Shs 1.2bn and we hope through proper mobilization, we shall achieve it” he added.

Challenges

Bwambale noted that clients have not been paying back in time which has become a habit even when the SACCO has done all it could.

During the AGM, it was also noted that some savings for members was not good because most of them open accounts with an aim of getting loans, such accounts remain dormant for some time.

KASACCO’s future plans is to reduce the interest rate from 3 percent to 2.5 percent once they finish construction of their premises.

KASACCO is constructing her office in order to have enough space to carry out her business.

AGM resolutions

KASACCO AGM resolved to increase the maximum amount of loan to individuals from Shs10m to Shs15m in a bid to increase profitability and sustainability and to groups from Shs15m to Shs20m.

Share capital was also increased from Shs10,000 to Shs20,000.

This year’s AGM was held under the theme, savings and shares mobilization, a strategy for sustainability.

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Masindi teachers’ SACCO share capital increase to Shs56m

MASINDI – The share capital for Masindi teachers’ SACCO has increased to Shs56 million in 2021 from Shs 47 million raised in the year 2020.

This was revealed by Joseph Rukundo, the Chairperson board Masindi teachers’ SACCO during their 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at Lado Hotel in Masindi town.

Rukundo further noted that the SACCO’s loan portfolio also increased to Shs37 million in 2021 from Shs 36 million realised in 2020.

“Our surplus has also increased from Shs 48 million to Shs58 million which is a big achievement to us,” he added.

Rukundo also said, 64 new members were registered through engagements on radio stations for mobilisation during the lockdown.

He added that the biggest challenges they’re grappling with include; the dormant accounts, non responsive defaulters, poor saving culture and multiple borrowing by some clients.

“Currently, the SACCO is faced with 225 dormant accounts. However, they have reduced from 238.”

Gladys Tusiimire the Secretary Masindi teachers’ SACCO noted that their savings reduced from Shs 84.7 million in 2020 to 81.2 million in 2021.

She attributed this to a poor saving culture where some members save purposely for loans.

“This can be evidenced by a reduction in savings for the financial year 2021.We are also faced with a challenge of insufficient loanable funds for timely disbursement to the members and the lack of commitment by members to meet their obligation.”

Aled Ronald Akugizibwe, the Member of Parliament for Buruli county advised the teachers to always plan for their exit from the civil service when they are still energetic.

“You should always put in place a side income. Stop depending on only the salary. I don’t want to see you refusing to vacate the teachers’ headquarters after retirement,” advised Akugizibwe.

He also asked the SACCO management to use him as an MP to help them lobby for it.

“Use me to lobby for the SACCO. In case you get an opportunity, I am ready to stand with you,” he said.

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO which started in 2005 boasts of about 700 members. It was initiated by the teachers of Masindi though it was later opened to the public.

Rukundo said it was opened to the public in order to meet the demands for other sectors.

One of its goals is to become a leading SACCO entity that will grow into a bank.

Some of its services include; saving salary, business loans, school fees, agricultural and emergency loans among others.

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Masindi teachers’ SACCO share capital increase to Shs56m

MASINDI – The share capital for Masindi teachers’ SACCO has increased to Shs56 million in 2021 from Shs 47 million raised in the year 2020.

This was revealed by Joseph Rukundo, the Chairperson board Masindi teachers’ SACCO during their 15th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held at Lado Hotel in Masindi town.

Rukundo further noted that the SACCO’s loan portfolio also increased to Shs37 million in 2021 from Shs 36 million realised in 2020.

“Our surplus has also increased from Shs 48 million to Shs58 million which is a big achievement to us,” he added.

Rukundo also said, 64 new members were registered through engagements on radio stations for mobilisation during the lockdown.

He added that the biggest challenges they’re grappling with include; the dormant accounts, non responsive defaulters, poor saving culture and multiple borrowing by some clients.

“Currently, the SACCO is faced with 225 dormant accounts. However, they have reduced from 238.”

Gladys Tusiimire the Secretary Masindi teachers’ SACCO noted that their savings reduced from Shs 84.7 million in 2020 to 81.2 million in 2021.

She attributed this to a poor saving culture where some members save purposely for loans.

“This can be evidenced by a reduction in savings for the financial year 2021.We are also faced with a challenge of insufficient loanable funds for timely disbursement to the members and the lack of commitment by members to meet their obligation.”

Aled Ronald Akugizibwe, the Member of Parliament for Buruli county advised the teachers to always plan for their exit from the civil service when they are still energetic.

“You should always put in place a side income. Stop depending on only the salary. I don’t want to see you refusing to vacate the teachers’ headquarters after retirement,” advised Akugizibwe.

He also asked the SACCO management to use him as an MP to help them lobby for it.

“Use me to lobby for the SACCO. In case you get an opportunity, I am ready to stand with you,” he said.

Masindi Teachers’ SACCO which started in 2005 boasts of about 700 members. It was initiated by the teachers of Masindi though it was later opened to the public.

Rukundo said it was opened to the public in order to meet the demands for other sectors.

One of its goals is to become a leading SACCO entity that will grow into a bank.

Some of its services include; saving salary, business loans, school fees, agricultural and emergency loans among others.

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Refugees, host communities scramble for access to agricultural land in Obongi district

OBONGI – Host communities and South Sudanese refugees in Palorinya sub-county in Obongi district are scrambling for access to fertile land for agricultural practices.

Palorinya sub-county has a total of 47,297 South Sudanese Refugees and 8417 host refugees.

Mohamed Geriga, a resident of Ipakwe village in Palorinya sub-county, one of the refugee hosting areas says, the fertile land which they normally used, has all been given to the refugees for settlement, forcing them to the banks of river Nile.

Geriga says most of the land in the area is covered by hills to the North and River Nile to the South leaving a stretch not fully fertile yet thousands are living on it.

Susan Amviko, another resident of the area says, there have been some cases of conflicts and disputes over land between the refugees and host communities as a result of limited access fertile land.

Victoria Duite, the Refugee Welfare Committee 2 Chairperson says, some of the refugees who had rented land for agriculture have either been stopped from accessing the land or their crops destroyed over internal family disputes over land.

According to information obtained by our reporter, hiring a plot of land per season goes for Shs 50,000.

“In some incidents, when the refugees hire land for cultivation from the host communities, some of the members of the landowners tend to chase away our brothers and sisters under unclear circumstances. In some cases, there are family disputes over land ownership which in turn leaves our refugees in huge losses,” Duite explains.

Thomas Morudrole, Acting sub-county Chief of Palorinya sub-county said, the scramble for land has also been intensified by the unfavorable weather patterns and the massive tree destruction by both the host communities and refugees.

According to Modrule, as a result of lack of adequate land for cultivation, coupled with the reduced supply of food rations by the World Food Program (WFP), several refugees have joined the host communities in the fishing business.

United Nations Development Program’s Raymond Mukisa, the Uganda Host and Refugee Empowerment Project Manager says, whereas the disputes affect the refugees, under their 4-year project, they have engaged members of the community who own land to cooperate and share the land.

He further says, they have engaged the refugees and members of the community in income generating activities ranging from businesses to life skills projects in order to avoid disputes.

According to Mukisa, under the livelihood phase of their project, they have planted more than 1,112 acres of woodlots on land which is owned by the host communities yet maintained by the refugees.

“On these acres of land, we have planted Ticks, Pine and other trees which are monitored by the refugees and members of the community. Also, these refugees and host communities have planted crops as they manage the woodlots. This is in order to improve on nutrition as well as boost food security,” Mukisa said.

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Government will embrace technology to track corruption tendencies by 2023

MBARARA – The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Dr Ramathan Ggoobi has said government agencies and ministries will embrace technology to track corruption tendencies.

Dr Ggoobi made these remarks while closing a two-day National Investment Symposium held at Kakyeka Stadium in Mbarara City.

He further said, automating government processes is meant to track the tax payers’ money and ensure that the money collected is put to proper use.

“Beginning next year, rationalization of government is going to take shape because we want to emphasize the efficiency of government,” says Ggoobi.

“When you pay tax, where is it going? The revenue we collect, what is it doing? So, the government took a decision to rationalize itself to improve on the way it does business, the results government needs and how it accounts for the resources that you give us,” he added.

In this regard, Dr Ggoobi says his docket is designing an e-procurement system to reduce inefficiencies in government offices.

“We are working on e-government procurement modernity and by next year about 50 of the central government ministries, departments and agencies are going to be procured online to reduce the inefficiencies we see in government,” the PS emphasized.

Dr. Ggoobi also said, the modernity being fine-tuned to be implemented in 2023 will procure in the same way WhatsApp groups does it on social media.

“With a WhatsApp group, if we could get its mirror image in our procurement that the firms which are bidding for government projects can be seen transparently on a computer and the business they are doing instead of going in small rooms to meet certain people where they give bribes, we are likely to reduce on corruption tendencies,” the PS explained.

“Ministry will start e-monitoring of schools and health centres across the country to protect the government drugs from being stolen,” said Dr. Ngoobi.

“We have also developed a platform to implement the e-monitoring of schools and health centres which some people have not been doing effectively of inspecting and monitoring teachers.

“If we have children in the school and we have a number of teachers, how are they being monitored to ensure that they offer the service they are paid to offer. So, we are introducing a system which is going to be monitoring the learners as well as the teachers and also monitoring the health centres across the country to ensure that medicine and other equipment which government buys are not stolen.”

Dr Ggoobi is also optimistic that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) lost by 3% during Covid-19 pandemic since 2020 will recover by the year 2023/24 through different stimulus packages the government is committed to providing.

“We are implementing a stimulus package to boost aggregate demand and also support businesses to restart and recover. A total of Shs 260 billion have been deployed through Emyooga as well as Shs 77billion through SACCOs targeting the financially excluded vulnerable groups and active poor through Microfinance Support Centre,” he said.

“We have lost nearly 3% of GDP growth in each of the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic which is projected to grow at 3.8% by June this year. The economy is destined to recover its free pandemic growth of above 6% beginning 2023/24,” the PS added.

Prof Elijah Mushemeza, MP Sheema North Constituency also challenged the government to focus on local industries and processors to empower the forthcoming Parish Development Model (PDM) program.

“With the mobilization we are doing in the parish model, if we are not careful, people are going to surprise us with commodities and we shall have no market but if they are processed, they can be kept for some time,” Mushemeza said.

“In our opinion, Ankole is at a stage where there is serious production and with little processing, it will increase our incomes. We require more than four banana processing plants,” he added.

The Uganda Investment Symposium concept was launched in 2019 with an inaugural symposium held in the West Nile region and a subsequent one held in the Rwenzori sub-region.

This year’s national symposium was organized by Uganda Development Bank Limited (UDBL) in partnership with Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).

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Unexploded ordnances threaten agricultural activities in Amuru.

AMURU – Amuru district leaders and farmers are concerned over the increasing number of unexploded ordnances being unearthed during the ongoing land preparation for planting period.

So far, more than 300 unexploded ordnances have been found in the district in the past 2 months, according to a report from the district security committee.

The report shows that the most affected areas are Pabo, Pogo, Atiak, Lakang and Layima sub-counties.

Christopher Onyango, a farmer and resident of Oguru cell in Pabo Town Council says, people are afraid to fully exploit their energy in tilting especially land in forests for fear of being hit by the unexploded ordnances.

“Last year, a 17-year-old boy lost his leg to a grenade while he was tilting his land in Oguru,” says Onyango.

“In 2019, a boy identified was Kidega lost his feet after he dug and hit a grenade which exploded while he was clearing his land. This has since discouraged many of us from clearing land which has never been used for fear of meeting similar challenges,” Onyango said.

“This has affected our harvest because we are forced to continue using the same pieces of land previously used even when the fertility has degraded,” Onyango noted.

Susan Achiro, another farmer, and resident of Layima says, tractor operators are reluctant to tilt new areas which have never been tilted before for fear of being hit by the ordnances.

Geoffrey Osborne Oceng, the former Amuru Resident District Commissioner (RDC) says this is affecting their efforts to rally people to fully engage in agricultural practices because they fear for their lives.

Recently, the UPDF 4th Division barracks in Gulu has been exploding the ordnances, but Oceng says limited resources have affected their operations.

Oceng was addressing the Minister of State for Defense and Veteran Affairs, Jacob Oboth Oboth during a consultative meeting in Pabo Town Council.

According to Oceng, there’s need for the intervention of the central government and Ministry of defense to provide more resources so that community members are saved from being hit by the ordnances.

“We are busy mobilizing the masses to actively engage in opening their land for the forthcoming planting season, but these efforts have been frustrated by the presence of unexploded ordnances within the communities. In recent times, we were being supported by the UPDF at the 4th division barracks in Gulu which is not enough due to limited resources,” Oceng says.

Jacob Oboth Oboth, the Minister of State for Defense and Veteran Affairs said, the concerns of the farmers and leaders will be addressed by the army headquarters.

Amuru, like many parts of Acholi sub-region was part of the battle fields for more than two-decades between the the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the government forces. As a result, several weapons were planted underground as the war progressed.

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Kinyara Sugar limited, farmers lose more than 3000 acres of cane to fire

MASINDI – Kinyara Sugar Limited and the sugarcane out-growers in Masindi district have lost more than 3000 acres of sugarcane plantation to fires since December last year, says Mathivanan Masilamani, the Agriculture Manager Kinyara Sugar Limited.

Every dry spell, Kinyara Sugar Limited and farmers grapple with fire which leaves them counting losses. In most cases, the cause of the fire is not established.

Some people say, the fire originates from bush burning, negligence, envy among others.

Mathivanan said most of the fires were experienced in the newly created sub-county of Bikonzi.

He further told theCooperator that more than 1000 acres of burnt cane have been supplied to the factory for crushing, 470.5 acres are still under haulage, 863 acres not taken because they were still young and 298 acres sold to other companies.

Last week, 516.25 hectares belonging to Kinyara and the farmers got burnt in Miirya sub-county in Masindi district.

The farmers lost about 348 hectares while Kinyara Sugar Limited lost 167 hectares.

The farmers who lose their cane to fires have been complaining that the company doesn’t take the burnt cane for crushing, hence making huge losses as farmers.

But Mathivanan dismissed that claiming that they have been taking the burnt cane and they are still doing so.

“When a farmer loses sugarcane to fires, he/she must foot the cost of transport, harvesting and loading. That’s the condition we gave them. We are doing this because we have a lot of overgrown cane we are supposed to harvest. If we focus on the burnt cane, we will be increasing the burden of the overgrown sugarcane. We did this after agreeing with Masindi Sugarcane Farmers Association Limited (MASGAL),” he explained.

But most of the farmers have been complaining that the costs are too much and they cannot manage it.

Robert Atugonza the Chairperson (MASGAL) says farmers have lost millions of shillings as a result of the fires.

“Measures have been put in place to fight fires in vain. I am discouraging the community members to desist from setting unnecessary fires,” said Atugonza.

Sugarcane poaching

Mathivanan noted that as a company, they are also grappling with sugarcane poaching, adding that they have lost more than 1000 hectares of sugarcane in a period of a year.

Two months back, security belonging to Kinyara Sugar Limited intercepted four Tata lorries attempting to steal sugarcane from Kinyara Sugar Limited Estates in Butoobe village in Bikonzi sub-county, Masindi district.

The company officials indicated that the vehicles with registration numbers UBH-009Q, UBJ-150G, UBJ-152G and UBG-578X were intercepted by the company’s security loaded with about 90 tonnes of sugarcane worth about Shs 7,956,000 at the point of arrest.

Sugarcane poaching implies taking away cane from out-growers supplying a particular factory to other factories and entities elsewhere.

Previously, during his state of the nation address on May 31, 2016, President Yoweri Museveni called for a stop to sugarcane poaching to avoid the risk of importing sugar from other countries due to low production.

Competition over sugarcane had in the past been limited to Busoga areas as Kakira Sugar Works complained about new millers eating into its 8,500 out-growers. But other big factories such as Kinyara Sugar Limited in Masindi has been facing the same challenge.

The practice in which emerging millers target established factories, buying sugarcane from out-growers has come to be known as “sugar cane poaching.

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Kinyara Sugar limited, farmers lose more than 3000 acres of cane to fire

MASINDI – Kinyara Sugar Limited and the sugarcane out-growers in Masindi district have lost more than 3000 acres of sugarcane plantation to fires since December last year, says Mathivanan Masilamani, the Agriculture Manager Kinyara Sugar Limited.

Every dry spell, Kinyara Sugar Limited and farmers grapple with fire which leaves them counting losses. In most cases, the cause of the fire is not established.

Some people say, the fire originates from bush burning, negligence, envy among others.

Mathivanan said most of the fires were experienced in the newly created sub-county of Bikonzi.

He further told theCooperator that more than 1000 acres of burnt cane have been supplied to the factory for crushing, 470.5 acres are still under haulage, 863 acres not taken because they were still young and 298 acres sold to other companies.

Last week, 516.25 hectares belonging to Kinyara and the farmers got burnt in Miirya sub-county in Masindi district.

The farmers lost about 348 hectares while Kinyara Sugar Limited lost 167 hectares.

The farmers who lose their cane to fires have been complaining that the company doesn’t take the burnt cane for crushing, hence making huge losses as farmers.

But Mathivanan dismissed that claiming that they have been taking the burnt cane and they are still doing so.

“When a farmer loses sugarcane to fires, he/she must foot the cost of transport, harvesting and loading. That’s the condition we gave them. We are doing this because we have a lot of overgrown cane we are supposed to harvest. If we focus on the burnt cane, we will be increasing the burden of the overgrown sugarcane. We did this after agreeing with Masindi Sugarcane Farmers Association Limited (MASGAL),” he explained.

But most of the farmers have been complaining that the costs are too much and they cannot manage it.

Robert Atugonza the Chairperson (MASGAL) says farmers have lost millions of shillings as a result of the fires.

“Measures have been put in place to fight fires in vain. I am discouraging the community members to desist from setting unnecessary fires,” said Atugonza.

Sugarcane poaching

Mathivanan noted that as a company, they are also grappling with sugarcane poaching, adding that they have lost more than 1000 hectares of sugarcane in a period of a year.

Two months back, security belonging to Kinyara Sugar Limited intercepted four Tata lorries attempting to steal sugarcane from Kinyara Sugar Limited Estates in Butoobe village in Bikonzi sub-county, Masindi district.

The company officials indicated that the vehicles with registration numbers UBH-009Q, UBJ-150G, UBJ-152G and UBG-578X were intercepted by the company’s security loaded with about 90 tonnes of sugarcane worth about Shs 7,956,000 at the point of arrest.

Sugarcane poaching implies taking away cane from out-growers supplying a particular factory to other factories and entities elsewhere.

Previously, during his state of the nation address on May 31, 2016, President Yoweri Museveni called for a stop to sugarcane poaching to avoid the risk of importing sugar from other countries due to low production.

Competition over sugarcane had in the past been limited to Busoga areas as Kakira Sugar Works complained about new millers eating into its 8,500 out-growers. But other big factories such as Kinyara Sugar Limited in Masindi has been facing the same challenge.

The practice in which emerging millers target established factories, buying sugarcane from out-growers has come to be known as “sugar cane poaching.

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Life after Prison: Authorities call for establishment of re-integration, counselling centers for former inmates

GULU – Margaret Orik Obonyo, the Aswa Region Prison Commander has called on the various stakeholders to establish a re-integration and counselling facility to help former inmates adapt to life after prison upon completion of their sentences.

Upon completion of prison sentences, former inmates normally go straight to their respective homes without any psychological and psychosocial support.

This, Orik says, jail is traumatic and needs to be addressed in a center through which one commutes from their respective homes as they continue to interact with their fellow inmates as they carry on with practice of the life skills they would attain while serving their sentences.

“We normally train our inmates with various life skills ranging from tailoring, brick laying and concrete practice, carpentry and joinery, salon and hairdressing among others. If they could be supported and a center or centers established are for them, they could continue with practicing their various skills and earn money as they continue with their re-integration into their various communities,” Orik proposes.

Douglas Peter Okello, the LCV Chairperson of Omoro District conquers with Orik but says for the idea to be effective, the centers will need to be established at district levels so that distances and others costs attached to the commuting to a center for example in Gulu City would be minimized.

Okello says, the result of the lack of counselling and psychological preparation of the former inmates into the community in most times results to either suicide or further crimes committed by the former.

“We have had numerous cases of former inmates committing suicide while others engage in criminal activities which is majorly as a result of lack of mindset change among others. This according to our findings, is because the former inmates are normally bitter with the members of the community who could have participated in them being jailed,” Okello says.

According to Okello, such a center could turn out to be a great center for entrepreneurial activities based on the skills the inmates have acquired during their time in prison but also as a center for community transformation. Some of the inmates can be trained to become crime preventers since they have experiences to share as a result of being in prison.

Brian Opio, a former prisoner, who served and completed his sentence says, sometimes he is raged with anger from the fact that his life has probably been destroyed and can’t be recovered which sometimes brings in the temptation of going back to the criminal life that took him to prison.

Opio says, despite having attained skills in carpentry and joinery, the lack of capital has also greatly affected him in establishing a workshop to support himself.

“Society often looks at me as a criminal and for this reason, no one is willing to financially support me to put up a carpentry workshop. So, putting up a center where we can continue to practice our skills as we earn money from it could help fund dreamers like me who can’t kick-start life after spending more than three years in prison,” Opio says.

Gulu Central Government Prison has a total of 146 female inmates and over 1400 male inmates.

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Life after Prison: Authorities call for establishment of re-integration, counselling centers for former inmates

GULU – Margaret Orik Obonyo, the Aswa Region Prison Commander has called on the various stakeholders to establish a re-integration and counselling facility to help former inmates adapt to life after prison upon completion of their sentences.

Upon completion of prison sentences, former inmates normally go straight to their respective homes without any psychological and psychosocial support.

This, Orik says, jail is traumatic and needs to be addressed in a center through which one commutes from their respective homes as they continue to interact with their fellow inmates as they carry on with practice of the life skills they would attain while serving their sentences.

“We normally train our inmates with various life skills ranging from tailoring, brick laying and concrete practice, carpentry and joinery, salon and hairdressing among others. If they could be supported and a center or centers established are for them, they could continue with practicing their various skills and earn money as they continue with their re-integration into their various communities,” Orik proposes.

Douglas Peter Okello, the LCV Chairperson of Omoro District conquers with Orik but says for the idea to be effective, the centers will need to be established at district levels so that distances and others costs attached to the commuting to a center for example in Gulu City would be minimized.

Okello says, the result of the lack of counselling and psychological preparation of the former inmates into the community in most times results to either suicide or further crimes committed by the former.

“We have had numerous cases of former inmates committing suicide while others engage in criminal activities which is majorly as a result of lack of mindset change among others. This according to our findings, is because the former inmates are normally bitter with the members of the community who could have participated in them being jailed,” Okello says.

According to Okello, such a center could turn out to be a great center for entrepreneurial activities based on the skills the inmates have acquired during their time in prison but also as a center for community transformation. Some of the inmates can be trained to become crime preventers since they have experiences to share as a result of being in prison.

Brian Opio, a former prisoner, who served and completed his sentence says, sometimes he is raged with anger from the fact that his life has probably been destroyed and can’t be recovered which sometimes brings in the temptation of going back to the criminal life that took him to prison.

Opio says, despite having attained skills in carpentry and joinery, the lack of capital has also greatly affected him in establishing a workshop to support himself.

“Society often looks at me as a criminal and for this reason, no one is willing to financially support me to put up a carpentry workshop. So, putting up a center where we can continue to practice our skills as we earn money from it could help fund dreamers like me who can’t kick-start life after spending more than three years in prison,” Opio says.

Gulu Central Government Prison has a total of 146 female inmates and over 1400 male inmates.

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