Minister orders Contractor to correct road defect

BULIISA – Minister of State for Urban Development, Mario Kania Obiga has demanded for the immediate rectification of some faults found on a road constructed under the Albertine Region Sustainable Development Program [ARSDP] in Buliisa town council, Buliisa district.

Minister Kania Obiga, who was in Buliisa district inspecting the government projects implemented in the Albertine region funded under the Albertine Region Sustainable Development Program (ARSDP) discovered some issues on the road being constructed by China Communication Construction Company (CCCC).

According to him, the drainage channels were poorly planned and as a result these channels are pouring water into people’s homes.

https://thecooperator.news/kwik-build-contractors-engineering-ltd-to-be-blacklisted-over-shoddy-works/

The roads that measuring 7.3 Kilometer of tarmac include; Ngongo, Commercial, Muhoojo, Kyamurwa, Baker, lift valley, Speke, Waguria Mutiiti and Karoro.

According to the officials, construction of these tarmac roads and the installation of street lights cost the government Shs.26 billions.

Under this program of ARSDP, the government constructed 31.3 gravel roads in Buliisa district, worth Shs.5 billion to help farmers and the general population to access markets for their produce and other social services.

During the inspection of the road, some of the residents told the officials that their houses were on the verge of collapsing because of the water that submerges their houses when it rains.

Prosper Amanya and Godfrey Nyendwoha, some of the affected residents from Civic cell in Buliisa town council claimed that the contractor directed the water channels to their homes and they have complained several times of help in vain.

Amanya said, recently they petitioned the office of the District Planner, the Community Development Officer to address the issue but when they visited the area, they never helped them.

Nyendwoha also complained that as the contract worked on the channels, he left some homes without access roads adding that they just have to jump to reach their house and called for intervention.

While reacting to the issue, Minister Kania called on the residents to remain calm and ordered that this issue be corrected with immediate effect.

“The issues of the drainage that I think was a major omission at the design stage, must be corrected immediately but because the contractor went with what was designed. I can’t say that it is shoddy work, despite having seen it, but that is a defect which needs to be addressed,” he explained.

However, he challenged the leaders to mobilize the locals to utilize the project and also to own and protect the facility for its sustainability.

He noted that the government has invested a lot of money in the ARSDP for the improvement of service delivery and development of the local people adding that the task now is with the local leaders to sensitize the citizens to get prepared for the opportunities created by the programs.

Engineer Joseph Ochaya, an official from the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development said, the Ministry is in the final stages of procuring a supervising consultant to conduct a study which will provide a proper drainage master plan.

He further explained that the firm will conduct Hydrological study and the study will provide the final decision to the Ministry on how to evacuate water from the area.

“The consultant will come with a team of experts such as high way designing Engineers and Hydrologists, so the firm will conduct Hydrological study and that study will inform how to evacuate water from the Albertin, but as you can see the challenge is not only with us, you have even seen Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) roads where they are also struggling with water along the channels, so the issue of water here need a proper master plan,” he explained.

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Nwoya district service commission to recruit 20 Parish Chiefs

NWOYA – Nwoya district local government is to prioritize the recruitment of parish chiefs, as the government extends the recruitment deadline to end of this month. Nwoya district has a total of 44 parishes but are yet to recruit people to fill in the vacant 20 parish chief positions.

In a letter dated 7th October, 2021 by the Permanent Secretary, Ramathan Ggoobi, Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development says, several districts in the country had not met the 30th September,2021 deadline to have all the positions of parish chiefs filled.

Ggoobi also noted that if not addressed, this would constraint government’s effort to eradicate poverty through the Parish Development Model (PDM).

https://thecooperator.news/older-persons-demand-inclusion-in-the-parish-development-model/

In an interview with our reporter, Emmanuel Orach, the Nwoya district LCV Chairperson says, the district had approved a five members team to the District Service Commission (DSC) and it included; Venancio Okidi as the Chairperson, Alexi Ocitti, Joseph Olango, David Odong, and Florence Lapobo.

Orach says, the lack of a functional District Service Commission had affected the recruitment of staff into the district for over a year. The terms of the previous service commission expired in July 2020.

“We don’t want to be the reason for the failure of the Parish Development Model, with a new service commission approved, and recruitment deadline extended to the end of this month, we want to ensure we beat the deadline and implementation starts,” Orach said.

Geoffrey Axuma, the Nwoya District Information Officer says, last year when they attempted to recruit more than 60 new staff using Omoro’s District Service Commission, some people were not happy and reported the matter to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) which blocked the recruitment.

He says, among those blocked included the Parish Chiefs, District Commercial Officer, Natural Resources Officer and the District Finance Officer which are yet to be recruited to date.

“Last year, when we wanted to recruit more than 60 people using the Omoro District Service Commission because we didn’t have ours, people ran to IGG which eventually blocked the recruitment process, so we were left to operate without people in critical positions like the District Finance Officer, Commercial Officer and Natural Resources Officer in addition to the Parish Chiefs among others,” says Axuma.

According to Axuma, as a result, the district received funds for the Parish Development Model of which implementation should have started by 1st October, 2021.

“We have received funds which should have started to be used to implement the Parish Development Model, as per the 1st October plan by the government. We can’t use the money yet because we need to have all the positions of Parish Chiefs filled,” Axuma explained.

The Parish Development Module has been adopted into the 3rd National Development Plan as a strategy for rural and socio-economic transformation. The parish will be the epicenter of multi-sectoral community development planning, implementation, supervision, monitoring and accountability.

The LC2 Chairperson and parish chief shall be responsible for political stewardship in the implementation of the parish model in their respective parishes with support from the sub-county and district technical planning committee.

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Five Companies pre-selected to supply Irrigation Equipment to Nwoya farmers

NWOYA – Five private companies have been pre-selected to supply irrigation equipment to 141 selected farmers in Nwoya district under a micro-scale irrigation program introduced by the government.

Solar now, Ferrest Investment limited, Balton Uganda, Advo International and Adritex will be evaluated to provide irrigation equipment which include; solar panels, water sprinkler and a water pump generator.

Tabu Justin, the Senior Agricultural Engineer, Nwoya district said they intend to work with all the five companies but the number of farmers allocated to each company will be determined after evaluation.

“The evaluation committee will do selection of the best bidders but we intend to give work to all the five companies although the number of farmers per supplier will vary,” he said adding that a decision will be made in November.

A total of 362 farmers were registered for the cost sharing project where the government will pay between 25 and 75% of the total cost of the irrigation equipment depending on factors like the size of the land, distance from water points and cost of equipment.

Tabu said that the remaining 221 farmers will be included in the next financial year.

“All the 141 farmers have already been assessed and will get their equipment by December 2021. The others will be rolled out in the next financial year,” he said.

The goal of the program is to create at least 1.5 million acres of irrigated land in Uganda by 2040.

During a training of the selected farmers on Wednesday, Akello Agnes Ebong, the Nwoya Resident District Commissioner urged the companies to supply only genuine equipment.

“I insist that you give us the right technology and the right items so that our farmers can do something good with them,” Ebong said.

She also urged the selected farmers to utilize the equipment to increase their productivity.

Ajok Kevin Okot, a farmer from Anaka town council who benefitted said, “I will be able to plant crops throughout the year. We have always relied on only two seasons to do farming.”

Felix Ouma, another farmer from Alero sub county said, the irrigation equipment will help address the challenge of unpredictable weather faced by farmers.

“The weather today has changed. In the past, we were able to predict the seasons but today we can’t. Sometimes, we plant crops then rains stop and we can’t do anything to save our crops.”

Unpredictable weather has seen farmers in Acholi sub-region lose crops annually to drought and flooding.

The project is being piloted in more than 40 districts across the country including Nwoya, Omoro and Amuru districts in Acholi sub-region.

The equipment is meant to irrigate up to 2.5 acres of land.

In September 2020, Nwoya district received Shs 48 million from the Ministry of Agriculture, which was used for sensitization of farmers and establishment of two demonstration farms in Koch Goma and Got Apwoyo sub-counties.

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Kwik Build Contractors & Engineering Ltd to be blacklisted over shoddy works

KIKUUBE – The State Minister for Economic Monitoring, Peter Ogwang has ordered for Kwik Build Contractors & Engineering Ltd to be blacklisted in the district for shoddy work.

The company owned by Patrick Isagara, a resident of Hoima City was contracted by the government to implement the construction of several seed secondary schools in Bunyoro region including Kigorobya Seed Secondary School in Hoima district, Nyairongo Seed Secondary school in Kabwoya sub-county, Kikuube district and Nyamarwa Seed Secondary School in Kibaale district among others.

The company is accused of producing shoddy works on these projects that were contracted to them by the government through the Ministry of Education with funding from the World Bank.

During his impromptu visit to monitor different government projects in Bunyoro, Minister Ogwang discovered several defects on the two projects and ordered for the blacklisting of the company from carrying out any project in Bunyoro.

Ogwang noted that during his inspection, the Shs1.8 billion in Nyairongo Seed Secondary School project which started in 2019 had developed big cracks on the floor, in the laboratory and on the ceiling.

Though there are still uncompleted works on the project, the contractor was paid 95% of the Shs.1.8 billion and this has seen several district officials arrested.

He noted that the walls have also developed cracks adding that the material used during the construction was sub-standard.

According to Ogwang, the identified defects discovered on the project may lead the school structures not to exist for more than 10 years.

https://thecooperator.news/governance-row-over-kabushaho-seed-school-before-construction-is-complete/

He explains that the same defects which were in the Nyairogo project were also discovered on the Kigorobya Seed Secondary School which is also worth more than Shs.1 billion.

He noted that the remaining 5% cannot handle the defects on the project and demanded the Ministry of Education to carry out forensic audit on most of the government projects implemented by Kwik Build Contractors & Engineering Ltd.

The District Engineer, Emma Arinaitwe and Julian Kusiima, the district Chief Finance Officer among others are being held responsible for the Nyairogo project.

This contractor is also accused for delaying the construction of Nyamarwa Seed School in Nyamarwa sub-county, Kibaale district

The government contracted Kwik Build Contractors &Engineering Ltd in 2019 to construct the seed school and works were supposed to have been completed in December 2020 but to date, the seed school has never been completed.

The Shs.1.8 billion seed school project according to the bills of quantities was to include construction of classrooms blocks, administration block, ICT block, science laboratory, pit latrines, fencing of the school and leveling of the sports field.

Dorothy Ajwang, the Kibaale Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) told theCooperator news that the contract period for the construction of the seed school has elapsed and they have only given a one-month ultimatum to the contractor to have completed the work or else his contract would be terminated.

Sources at Kikuube police station said that the Company Director Isagara, was recently summoned to make a statement but he never responded to police summons.

However, some residents claim that the contractor was given many projects that are beyond his capacity.

James Murungi, a resident of Nyairongo village Kabwoya advised the government to always get different contractors to implement its projects instead of giving more than 5 projects to one contractor which results in producing shoddy work and lack of value for money.

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Ministry of Education and district leaders faulted over long-standing fight for denominational schools

ACHOLI & LANGO -The State House Anti-Corruption Unit has faulted the District Education Officers and Chief Administrative Officers in Acholi and Lango sub-regions over the longstanding fight for primary, secondary and technical schools.

So far, more than 60 schools and technical institutes in Acholi and Lango sub-regions are embroiled in conflicts over denominational schools between the Catholic and Anglican Church, and the community.

Some of the affected foundation body schools include; Lakwor Primary School, Lyelokwa where both the community and the Anglican Church are claiming ownership of the school.

In Agago district, Arumu Odwong, Olyelo wii Dyel and Amyel Primary Schools are all being claimed by both the Catholic and the Anglican church.

Kitgum district has 5 schools in contention; in Pader, 12 Schools are embroiled in conflicts. Aringa Primary School in Pader, has parents from both Catholic and Anglican denominations discouraging their children from joining the school. School enrolment in Aringa Primary School is as low as 50 pupils.

In the Lango sub-region, Lira district and City have 14 schools, Alebtong and Otuke have 3 each, Dokolo 3 schools where the Anglican and Catholic Church alongside the community members all claim ownership.

When tasked to explain the origin of the conflicts, most of the education officers accuse the headteachers of the schools for changing details in the school censor forms.

Fred Owot, the Kitgum District Education Officer says, his findings show that most of the conflicts started when the school coding by the year 2000 indicated most of the schools were community aided schools.

Owot claims that after having gone to the Ministry of Education to get clear and authentic documents, he was only given information on an excel form which they used to settle conflicts in 2 schools.

Francis Olwoch, the Pader District Education Officer citing one of the schools, Aringa Primary where according to the statistical data, indicates that the school was founded by the Catholic Church in 1967 and was later changed by one, Peter Obwona, the former headteacher of the school alleging that the school was founded by the Anglican Church in 1983.

Olwoch blames the staff of the Ministry of Education for not documenting details of schools coded. He claims that several of their attempts to get documents from the Ministry of Education and Sports have been fruitless because of limited information.

Alfred Malinga, the Otuke District, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) says, the conflicts have affected the construction of Okol, Okum and Ogwette Seed Secondary Schools despite having received the money.

For the case of Okum Seed Secondary School, Ogwette says ownership of land by both the community members and the Anglican Church has halted the commencement of construction. Similarly, for the two other schools, the community have revolted against the decision by the Catholic Church to give additional land to construct the structures for the schools.

According to Malinga, they have noticed that there are some groups of people who are not from the Catholic denomination, who are convincing the community members not to accept the construction of the schools on grounds that the Catholic church already has benefited from the government’s support to the education sector in the district.

Ismael Mulindwa, the Director Basic and Secondary Education at the Ministry of Education and Sports says, they have held several meetings with the various stakeholders to solve the issues arising over ownership and foundation bodies have not yielded any fruits.

What the religious leaders say.

Bishop Winston Kitara, of the Diocese of Kitgum, citing cases of Akwang Secondary School where a family with the backing of the clan donated land for the establishment of the school has seen some government officials failing to declare that the Anglican church are its rightful owners.

Kitara notes that sometimes as church leaders, they are forced to take actions because of the lack of commitment by the public servants including Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs), District Education Officers (DEOs) and some staff of the Education Ministry.

Bishop Alfred Olwa of the Lango Diocese accuses the public servants for intentionally frustrating their efforts to peacefully solve the conflicts between the religious denominations.

According to Olwa, the Education Act of 2008 which requires all the schools to register foundation bodies was one of the biggest challenges because not everyone understood the concept.

Bishop Lino Santos Wanock, of Lira Diocese says, the conflict between the Catholic and Anglican churches is embarrassing and uncalled for. If the conflicts are to be solved, the religious denominations should respect the initial position of the foundation.

Currently, the Catholic and the Anglican Church in Lira are battling for ownership of some of the schools in the Lango sub-region.

https://thecooperator.news/world-bank-builds-a-shs2-billion-school-in-otuke/

Bishop Emeritus of Lira diocese, Giuseppe Franzeli says, the said conflict is a manifestation of confusion from the locals, public servants, government and the religious leaders. Franzeli says the whole conflict over schools and other institutions is being perceived as a power struggle between the religious leaders.

According to Franzeli, for the conflicts to be best resolved, the community members who own the lands should be involved alongside the other stakeholders to ensure the issues are resolved.

Lt Col Edith Nakalema, the Head of the State House Anti-Corruption Unit blamed the District Education Officers (DEOs) and Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) for the long-standing confusion.

Nakalema was speaking during a consultative meeting with religious leaders from Gulu Archdiocese, Lira Diocese, the Diocese of Northern Uganda, Lango West and Lango Dioceses in Gulu City; on the directive of President Museveni and Education and Sports Minister, Janet Museveni following series of public outcries.

Nakalema further says, it is difficult to agree with public servants that details of schools and their foundation bodies have changed, and they don’t detect and act upon them.

Nakalema gave until 16th of November, 2021 to the Ministry of Education and Sports to produce the list of schools embroiled in conflicts to her office and also ordered her detectives to carryout prosecution led investigations against the public servants who have failed to prevail over the issues that have seen religious leaders conflicting.

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