8 Alebtong schools request for government intervention

ALEBTONG – Eight primary schools in Alebtong district are calling for urgent intervention from Ministry of Education and Sports after their roofs were blown off by heavy wind during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The schools calling for urgent intervention include; Telela, Angopet, Amugu Quran, Alela morden, Omarari, Angicakide, Teamyel and Amononeno. The schools also have dilapidated classrooms, staff houses and poor toilet facilities.

“The schools are without a functional water source for the learners and teachers despite water being critical in the fight against COVID-19,” said David Kennedy Odongo, the district LC5 boss.

Late last year, President Yoweri Museveni announced the reopening of the economy and education institutions after two years of lockdown.

According to a report by Communication for Development Uganda, 23,000 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the Lango sub-region during the lockdown as most parents abandoned their roles as guardians to their children.

Approximately, 15 million learners were sent home in March 2020 and resumed classes on 10th January 2022 with challenges ranging from dilapidated structures, collapsed toilets, shortage of classrooms and cracked structures.

Odongo said, the situation is alarming and it is beyond the capacity of the district as it is an emergency.

“The borehole which was serving the schools broke down and we need government intervention to repair it,” he said.

The District Education Officer (DEO), Moses Olwit appealed to development partners to support the rehabilitation and repair of the broken water sources.

He said, there is an urgent need for an emergency fund to support the fixing of the dilapidated and risky classrooms including toilets.

In Apac, the district Secretary for Health and Education, Sam Opira said though the schools have reopened, there is need for the government to undertake major rehabilitations.

“Most of them need rehabilitation but other schools have done due diligence and worked on them,” he said, adding that they advised them to improvise and bring the school to a manageable state to ensure learning takes place.

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Boda-boda associations suspend revenue collection in Gulu City

GULU – Different associations of boda-boda operators in Gulu City have disagreed with City Authorities on revenue collection and demanded that the Council suspends their new revenue collection directive.

In a bid to widen the revenue base, Council directed the divisions to register all boda-boda operators in their respective areas and generate revenue from them.

Meanwhile, each registered boda-boda operator is to pay Council an annual subscription fee of Shs48,000, a decision widely detested by boda-boda operators.

The City has more than 11,000 boda-boda operators scattered in 422 stages but only 2,174 of the 6000 operators in Western Division were registered and less than 1000 registered in the Eastern Division.

Raymond Ocan, the Chairperson Gulu West Boda-boda Association told theCooperator over the weekend in an interview that they are still consulting members on the new tax policy.

However, he noted that the Council has hurriedly endorsed the new policy but did not consider factors which include construction of stages for boda-boda, hygiene and sanitation.

“We are not against paying taxes but not until they provide us with shades and improvement on garbage management in the areas where we are operating from, then they can take our money,” Ocan explained.

His counterpart Godfrey Ojok, the General Secretary Gulu East Boda-boda Association has also raised similar concerns of lack of parking space for boda-boda operators in the City.

With a total of 6,000 operators, Ojok revealed that only 2,500 have so far been registered while the majority are mobile operators who do not have functional stages provided for within the City.

“The members are still discussing the policy but the most important thing is that we need more time as many of us are still recovering from the lockdown,” Ojok told theCooperator.

The two Division Mayors, Geoffrey Otim and Patrick Oola Lumumba urged City authorities to engage the associations before the implementation.

On Monday, the City Town Clerk Moses Otimong was out of office and did not pick up repeated phone calls over the matter.

The Senior Principal Auditor, Geoffrey Oyoo who was in office declined to speak, arguing that he has no legal mandate or delegation to respond to the concern.

However, with more than 12,000 boda boda operators, the City can potentially generate nearly Shs 600 million from the associations as revenue.

https://thecooperator.news/ministry-of-works-in-consultation-with-taxi-drivers-and-drivers-over-proposed-constitution/

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COVID 19 impact: Landlord evicts school over unpaid rent arrears

HOIMA -The impact of Covid-19 has started to bite in Hoima as Bright Children Nursery and Primary School was evicted over rent areas accumulated over the lockdown.

Bright Children Nursery School is located in Kiryateete, Hoima West City division in Hoima City.

The conflict erupted after the schools officially opened on Monday 10th of this month and registered a good number of pupils.

The Landlord Denis Kaija, asked the School Director, Gerald Mugabi to relocate his school from his structures over failure to pay rent arrears amounting to Shs 30 million which was accrued during the Covid-19 lockdown. For the past two years, the landlord says, Mugabi has never paid a single coin for rent to him.

Kaija issued an eviction notice to the School Director through Majimoto Auctioneers and Court Bailiffs to evict Bright Children Nursery and Primary School from his buildings.

Kaija explains that Mugabi started renting at his premises in 2016. According to the tenancy agreement, Mugabi was meant to stop using the structures in 2020 but the landlord says, his tenant has continued to use the structures even before renewing his tenancy.

When Mugabi failed to pay, Kaija sought police intervention last year where Mugabi agreed that the school will be relocated by November 30, 2021 which has not been done.

He noted that, it was surprising that Mugabi is still operating and recruiting children in his buildings despite failing to honour the agreement.

However, Director Mugabi says, he did not leave the premises because the Landlord also failed to fulfill the agreement they made while at police.

He noted that, the landlord was supposed to pay the school Shs 2million as compensation for some structures that were set up by the school at the site.

He added that if the Landlord had complied, they would have shifted to another place. “Tenant Mugabi / director of Bright Children Nursery and Primary School, is ready to leave so long as the Landlord meets what we signed while at Hoima police,” said Mugabi.

But Kaija rubbished the claims of his tenant saying, his efforts to pay Mugabi the Shs2m have yielded no fruits since Mugabi has always failed to honor the invitation to pick his money.

He further noted that several times he has tried to give Mugambi the Shs2m so that he can vacate his building but Mugabi keeps dodging him.

Kaija also noted that, he has involved several offices including the Hoima City Education department but they have not helped and this forced him to resort to forceful eviction of Mugabi from his buildings since he is unable to pay.

He noted that Hoima City is demanding him Shs5.7 million, property tax and he is unable to pay since his tenant has failed to pay him his rent arrears.

Denis Asiimwe, a Court Bailiff from Majimoto Auctioneers and Court Bailiffs said, the school was closed last week but Mugabi illegally broke the seals and gained access into the structures.

He demanded him to return the 15 padlocks which he broke before any action is taken against him.

Johnson Kusiima Baingana, the Hoima Oil City Principal Education Officer says, his office has received several complaints over the school and promised to make a follow up.

The government through the Ministry of Education and Sports had earlier directed all the Landlords to pardon school owners rent arrears accumulated during a two year lockdown; Landlords say that they are also between a rock and had place.

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Gulu City authorities order for fresh allocation of lockup shops at Gulu main market

GULU – Gulu City authorities have ordered for fresh allocation of lockup shops, stalls and pitches at Gulu Main Market to vendors to restore sanity in the market.

The Council resolution was based on the report by an Adoc committee that was instituted to investigate the challenges in the market related to ownership, taxation and revenue collection in the market.

The committee which is composed of 5 members and chaired by the Woman Councillor IV for Agwee/Queens Parish Gifter Aber for Laroo-Pece division was established in November,2021.

The investigation that was concluded by the end of December, 2021 uncovered several irregularities leading to the resolution to reallocate the lockup shops, stalls and pitches.

The reports indicate that of 515 lockups shops, 97% of them were rented out to vendors between Shs 150,000 to Shs 600,000 depending on their positions.

Technocrats, political leaders and clerics whose identities were withheld from the report were implicated in fraudulent acquisition of the shops from the then Gulu Municipal Developers Association.

In 2015, a group of 85 developers signed the tenancy agreement with the council for a joint ownership of the market but the committee found out that their number has exceeded 240 members.

The tenancy agreement gave the developers 6 years of ownership of the shops which has expired and Council also resolved to terminate their contract with the developers in order to take full control and ownership of the market.

Meanwhile, some of the individuals implicated in the scandals were found in possession of between 5 to 10 lockup shops arising from fraudulent acquisition which they sublet to vendors.

The Gulu City Mayor, Alfred Okwonga told theCooperator in a recent interview that the Council resolved to carry out fresh re-allocation of the lockup shops, and stalls in the next two weeks.

Whereas the Council moves towards reallocation, the report by the adoc committee also exposed a variation of the revenue collected which caused financial losses to the Council in the last two years.

With a projection of more than billions of shillings in annual revenue from the market, the Council only realized Shs106.8 million in 2021 creating a shortfall of the revenue collected in the year.

The revenue performance in the market has increased according to the quarterly performance reports, as Council collected Shs426 million from the market between July and September 2021 with the introduction of the Integrated Revenue Administration System (IRAS).

The Chairman Gulu main market vendors association, Patrick Omaya is hopeful that the market will realize more than a billion shillings from revenue collection with the new finance system which he says, will eliminate corruption in the City and improve on public accountability.

He also revealed that the re-allocation of lock-up shops, stalls and pitches in the market will kick off with fresh registration of the vendors in the next two weeks for verification.

“There was manipulation at the time of allocation that smuggled in more people, most of whom were technocrats,” Omaya told theCooperator in an interview.

The tenancy agreement gave the developers 6 years of ownership of the shops but most of them according to the market authorities have rented out their shops to the vendors.

The Principal Auditor, Gulu City Council however noted that the clause in the tenancy agreement does not give power to the developers to transfer their interest which he says has not been followed.

“The party agreed not to transfer his or interest to a third party without the approval of the Council, the transfer can only be granted whenever there is any eventuality or demise but this is contrary to what we see in the market,” Oyoo said.

Gulu Main Market was constructed at the cost of Shs 29 billion under the Market Agricultural Trade Improvement Project (MATIP) and commissioned by President Museveni in 2016 with the expected capacity to accommodate over 4,000 vendors.

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Ministry of works in consultation with taxi drivers and drivers over proposed constitution

HOIMA – Ministry of Works and Transport has promised to address the challenges affecting the taxi drivers and owners in the country through the proposed taxi operator’s constitution.

This was revealed by Ministry officials during a regional validation meeting for the draft constitution of the taxi industry.

Recently, Ministry of Works and Transport drafted a constitution on the instructions of the president, to govern the National Association of Taxi Operators.

The meeting held in Hoima City attracted municipal and city leaders, leaders of taxi drivers and owners from the districts of Hoima city, Kagadi, Kibaale, Buliisa and Masindi.

Robert Kisakye, the Senior Licensing Officer at Ministry of works said that a plan to have the constitution for the National Taxi Operators’ Association was reached during a meeting that was held between the taxi operators and President Museveni.

He explained that the national constitution will help the taxi operators to vote for their national leadership.

Kisakye explained that multiple fees paid on the road, harassment in the taxi industry, people leading the industry who are not taxi operators, failure to get support from the government in terms of financial subsidy and mismanagement of funds are some of the challenges which were identified by taxi operators during their meeting.

“The association is mainly going to address the challenges that taxi operators face in the industry. The idea of a constitution came from a meeting between taxi operators and the President. The taxi operators felt the need for accountable leaders and the desire to participate in decision making process in the industry,” said Kisakye.

He added that different officials are traversing the country collecting views of the taxi drivers and owners which they will incorporate into the constitution before passing it into their policy.

There was overwhelming endorsement from Bunyoro as the taxi operators agreed to form an association and offered ideas on how they want the association to look like.

The Ministry will now incorporate these views from the regional meetings and come up with a final constitution that will regulate the association.

Musoke Matia, a businessman and owner of taxis in Kagadi district welcomed the initiative adding that it was long overdue to have the association and laws governing taxi operators.

He noted that this business has been facing several challenges including indisciplined drivers, lack of transparency and over taxation adding that once the draft constitution is passed into law, it will solve many problems.

He further noted that this constitution is going to streamline the taxi industry and restore sanity among the operators.

Karungi Mustafa, the Chairman of Masindi District Taxi Driver’s Association and Hamfrey Mugisa the Chairperson of Hoima Taxi and Bus Park commended the president for the initiative adding that the constitution of the taxi operators’ associations will eliminate masqueraders from the taxi business and give them an opportunity to advocate for their rights.

They said that taxi operators have not been benefiting from the industry as they expected due to lack of a national body to organise them.

They also demanded for regional balance during the elections of the national leaders of the taxi operators’ association.

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Clerics rally teachers to return to their profession and save the nation

ACHOLI – Religious leaders in Acholi sub-region under their umbrella group – Acholi Religious Leaders Peace Initiative (ARLPI) have called on teachers who abandoned their teaching profession for other income generating activities during the COVID-19 pandemic to return and save the nation.

For about two years, teachers in Uganda were rendered jobless after schools were closed by the government to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

Speaking in an interview with our reporter, Bishop James Ochan, of the National Fellowship of Born-again and Pentecostal churches for Acholi sub-region said, the mere fact that teachers were not practicing their profession resulted into thousands of teenage pregnancies, child marriages, drug abuse, lack of respect for the societies among others.

Ochan further said, teachers play a huge role in shaping the moral direction of the country and with schools re-opening next week, they should return to bring order and sanity and save the future of the nation.

“What we have experienced in the last two years that our children have been home clearly shows that parents don’t do much as far as shaping the future of our children. We need teachers if our country is to be in order and develop. So, please teachers, return to your classes and save the nation,” said Bishop Ochan.

In Gulu City, more than 100 redundant teachers, joined the boda-boda cycling business in order to fend for their families.

According to Amuru education authorities, more than 130 teachers joined boda-boda business while others, especially along the South Sudan border joined the cross-border business.

Derrick Otim, a teacher in Amuru district who declined to mention the school he is attached to says, he is still contemplating whether to return to class given the little pay. Otim says, as a boda-boda cyclist, he earns at least Shs 25,000 from which he can daily save and cater for his family.

“I have been earning at least Shs25,000 daily from my boda-boda business yet I earn a monthly salary of Shs 400,000. If I chose to go back to class, it would take me time to re-adjust since I joined the boda-boda business. I will still have to think about it though,” Otim said.

Otim further said, incase he returns to class, he might consider teaching as a part time job since he needs money to sustain his family.

Steven Ojara, another teacher in Gulu City who opened a retail shop in Bar dege Layibi City division says, he will return to class but also keep his side business to supplement his earnings.

Rt Rev Godfrey Loum, the Bishop of the Diocese of Northern Uganda said, the government should use the lessons learnt to consider listening to the pending demands of teachers on salary increments.

For years, the teachers body, Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) has been pleading with the government for increment of teachers’ salaries. Currently, the government’s focus is to improve salaries of science teachers.

Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the State Minister for Primary Education recently warned teachers who will not report to school in two weeks of school reopening that they will be replaced since they are no longer interested in their profession.

Recently, the government in partnership with Give Directly announced a Shs 23 billion support to private teachers who have been greatly affected by the lockdown.

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Health workers charged over Forgery of vaccination cards

HOIMA – The Hoima Grade One Magistrate’s Court has charged two health workers and one Office Messenger attached to Butema Health Centre III in Buhanika sub-county, Hoima district with forgery and conspiracy.

The three suspects appeared in Grade One Magistrate Court presided over by Her Worship, Esther Asiimwe on Wednesday evening after spending nights in police cells.

The accused include; Emmanuel Onyor, a Medical Assistant, Rhoda Aheebwa the In-charge of the Health facility and Ivan Bigirwa, the Office Messenger.

Prosecution led Julius Oncheng, told court on December 30, 2021, that the three and others still at large connived to sell forged COVID-19 Vaccination Cards to unvaccinated Ugandan Citizens.

Last week, detectives from Hoima Police Station arrested Bigirwa the Office Messenger as he was selling the vaccination cards to unvaccinated persons at Hoima Boma grounds.

Bigirwa told police, they were selling the cards between Shs50,000 to Shs100,000. On interrogation, Bigirwa is alleged to have confessed that he had connived with some staff at Butema Health Centre III to have the cards sold.

According to a police source, Bigirwa was arrested on Thursday 30th December last year while the two health workers were arrested on Tuesday 4th 2022.

While appearing before court, the suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges. After several submissions from the Prosecution and the Defence lawyers, Aron Baryabanza of Baryabanza and Company Advocates, Magistrate Asiimwe granted the accused bail and adjourned the case to February 9, 2022.

The magistrate granted Onyor and Aheebwa a cash bail of Shs 500,000 each; while the suspect Bigirwa was given cash bail of Shs 200,000. Their sureties Onyor and Aheebwa respectively were given a non-cash bail of Shs 2m each while the ones of Bigirwa were given non-cash bail of Shs1m.

Counsel Baryabanza commended the court for granting his clients bail adding that it was going to be a violation of their constitutional right if court had denied them the bail as Prosecution demanded.

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Police impounds 13 bags of marijuana, 48 arrested for illicit trade in Gulu

GULU– Police in Gulu have impounded 13 bags of marijuana leading to the arrest of 48 suspects in connection with the illicit trade. The suspects are being held at Gulu Central Police Station.

The items were discovered on Wednesday afternoon in one of the buildings along Ring Road in Gulu City in an ongoing joint security operation against the rising number of criminal gangs in the area.

The Aswa River Regional Police Spokesperson, David Ongom Mudong revealed in an interview with theCooperator shortly after the arrest that, the suspects include foreign nationals.

“They have been masquerading as hawkers selling items in the streets of Gulu and yet at night they are engaged in criminal activities,” Ongom told theCooperator on Wednesday in an interview.

He however explained that police was still investigating how the suspects entered the country. Some of the suspects are Congolese, Somalis and Indian nationals. They will either be charged or deported depending on the investigations.

Ministry of Health recently expressed concerns on the rising number of smokers in Gulu City which it attributed to the increasing number of mental health related cases.

At Gulu Regional Referral Hospital Mental Health Unit, 9,061 patients sought treatment at the facility with different mental health conditions in 2020 with 5,000 admissions.

The hospital currently receives a minimum of 100 new cases of mental illnesses on a weekly basis, 90% of them have alcohol and substance abuse related cases. The substances include but not limited to marijuana or opium.

Charles Eyoung, the Psychiatrist Medical Officer at the Mental Health Unit revealed that, despite the increasing number of patients, the hospital does not have some of the essential drugs.

Among the drugs absent from the hospital include; Phenytoin which controls seizures in patients who are epileptic and Naltrexone used for treatment of both post traumatic disorder and alcohol abuse.

Eyoung explained that the hospital has no choice but to refer patients to private pharmacies to buy drugs. Unfortunately, many cannot afford them due to their exorbitant prices.

“Some of them walk on foot for two days to reach this facility and you can’t say that a patient will afford treatment from the private health facilities even when we refer them,” Eyoung added.

He further revealed that the minimum cost of treatment of a patient with a mental health condition costs between Shs.600,000 to Shs.365,000 per month especially those with alcohol and substance abuse related cases.

“The people we see on the street with complete loss of contact with reality could have been avoided but drugs are expensive for the poor to afford,” Eyoung further explained.

The hospital Director, Dr. James Elima has acknowledged the gaps in service delivery at the mental health unit but noted that the health facilities in the region are experiencing a surge in number of patients.

Elima attributed the resurgence of mental illnesses in the region to post traumatic disorders which arose from the decades of war between the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) and the government forces.

He also revealed that the hospital annually requests the government for Shs2.6 billion for purchase of the essential medicines but only gets Shs1.4 billion of the budget which he says is inadequate.

He urged the government to increase funding for the mental health sector which he says is meagre to keep patients on treatment and provide them with healing.

“Today, we think mental health is for those who have removed their clothes but tomorrow will be someone else, the level of stress in the region is high,” Dr. Elima added.

Some of the families who spoke to theCooperator described the mental health sector as a forgotten and isolated sector compared to other sectors in health care.

Sunday Ajok, a resident of Kasubi, a mother of a 20-year-old daughter who has battled mental illness from her infancy says, she has sold off her only three plots of land to raise money for treating her child in vain.

Ajok explained that the Shs.10 million she raised from the sale of land was all spent on traditional herbalists before she turned to the hospital but only to find out that the drugs are still not available.

“I have lost all my livelihood because I must closely attend to her but nothing has changed because at the age of 20, I still feed her like baby,” Ajok recounts.

Tamali Atim, the elderly sister of a 35-year-old man who similarly developed a mental health condition while only 8 years old says, her family spends Shs.5,000 daily to buy drugs from private pharmacies.

She has equally asked the government to provide livelihood support to the families of mental health patients and also to provide drugs in the lower heath facilities for the patients who are deep in rural areas.

In an earlier interview, Derrick Kizza, the Executive Director, Mental Health Uganda advised government to prioritize mental health services saying most of the young people in the country are exposed to mental illnesses.

“When Ministers and other government officials secretly tell you that my brother, look, some of my children are battling with the condition; then that tells you that the issue is not only for ordinary people but also people in big positions in government. Therefore, the government ought to deal with it,” Kizza added.

However, the most common mental health condition in Acholi sub-region is bipolar commonly known as mood swings, depression, post-traumatic disorders and anxiety among others.

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Acholi leaders call for investigations into persistent wildfire outbreaks at Atiak Sugarcane works

AMURU – Leaders from Acholi sub-region have called for an investigation into the persistent wildfire outbreaks that have devastated sugarcanes belonging to Atiak Sugar Company and out growers.

In December last year, more than 300 hectares of sugar belonging to Atiak Sugar Outgrowers Cooperative and Ayuu Alali Sugarcane Outgrowers were destroyed by wildfire. The cause of the fire outbreak is yet to be found.

This has been a common trend for the last three years where wildfire destroys hundreds of hectares of sugarcane leaving both the outgrowers and company in billions of losses.

Now members of the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) are calling for an investigation into the circumstances under which wildfire keeps devastating the sugarcane plantation.

Simon Wokorach, the Aswa County Member of Parliament says, the continuous stories of fire gutting the plantations are not nice given the billions of funds the government has injected into the project, leave alone the infrastructural developments coming along with the projects.

“Currently, plans are underway to tarmac the Okidi, Lamwo road, with a bridge to be installed to ease access for farmers and locals to and from the factory as well as other businesses in Atiak and Palabek Ogili sub-counties in Amuru and Lamwo districts respectively. These are some of the opportunities that are coming along with this project. Why would someone who is aggrieved fail to come up and resort to burning sugarcane?” Wokorach wonders.

“Besides the infrastructural developments resulting from the factory, hundreds of people are already employed by the factory. This implies we must sustain the factory and keep it functional for its benefit to multiply in larger numbers for the population of Acholi,” added Wokorach.

“We all know that the region is recovering from the war and a huge percentage of the population didn’t have time and resources to study. This would be an opportunity for them to get employed since the jobs being provided don’t require much academic qualifications,” Wokorach observes.

Peter Okot, the Tochi County Member of Parliament said, it is the only factory in Acholi and this is gradually changing the narrative on investments in the sub-region that used to be a no-go zone given its previous background of conflict over land especially with the Madhvani project in Lakang sub-county.

Okot wants the aggrieved, to use the rightful and peaceful mechanism of raising their voices so that the differences are ironed out and the investment is not lost.

“In any investment, there will always be a party which is not satisfied with how things are run, but for this particular case, we need this factory running as a region, meaning we need to provide audience to the aggrieved party so that their concerns are listened to and addressed so that we don’t lose this factory,” OKot says.

Gilbert Olanya, the Member of Parliament for Kilak South in Amuru district believes that the factory has an uphill task to ensure that grievances are settled. He says, there are groups of people who are not happy with how the land was acquired, this could also be one of the reasons for the wildfire outbreaks we are seeing today.

“If one or two people are not happy, that is what we will be seeing, let the factory owners meet the land owners to solve this. There is also a group of returnees who were first employed at the factory and they claim, they have not have been paid their money yet the government has released money meant to pay them. This money is allegedly being eaten by the leadership of the cooperative societies and the political leaders. This could also be another reason to the fire outbreaks,” Olanya explains.

In a recent interview, Anthony Akol, the Kilak North Member of Parliament, also the Chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group said, there could be two major issues that should be investigated including the grievances of the neighboring landowners who claim to have been forced into the project without adequate compensation for their land or unpaid workers who have reportedly been working for close to six years without proper payment.

“I have been told that there is a category of casual laborers who reportedly worked at the factory for about six years and were never adequately paid and also a section of neighboring landowners who claim that only one family is benefiting from the project yet their land was forcefully annexed into the sugar project. These are some of the notable leads that we could interest ourselves in investigating to really find out more of what is happening at the factory,” Says Akol.

When contacted, Mahmoud Mohamed, the Agricultural Director at Horyal Investments which owns the Atiak Sugar Works declined to comment on the call of the members of parliament.

However, Santa Joyce Laker, the Chairperson of Atiak Sugarcane Out grower’s Cooperative Society blames the local leaders for being reactive and always coming after fire outbreaks.

Laker says, in October last year, they reported a fire outbreak to police and informed all the leaders but none of them took interest to understand what exactly happened. She further says, for three years, fire has been destroying sugarcane and no police report has been given to the public as to the cause of the fires.

“Instead of calling for investigations, the APG and other stakeholders should call for sensitization meetings with the members of the cooperative societies and the community members so that the root causes of the fire outbreaks are discussed and mitigated,” Laker suggested.

Atiak Sugar Factory, sits on a 60,000-acre piece of land in Pacilo, Atiak sub-county in Amuru district. In recent years, the government of Uganda disbursed billions of shillings to fund the project with a long-term aim of benefiting the local community.

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Government earmarks Shs 23b for private teachers

UGANDA – Give Directly, a non-profit humanitarian agency together with government has earmarked Shs 23b to support both private primary and secondary school teachers in the country.

The money according to the Minister of Gender Labour and Social Development, Betty Amongi will be channeled under government’s Parish Development Model (PDM) program.

The PDM is a new strategy government intends to use for organizing and delivering public and private sector interventions for wealth creation and employment at the parish level as the lowest economic planning unit.

Its objective is to take the government to the people in a more effective way through data gathering, community mobilization and mindset change.

Other areas of focus are area-based enterprise selection and development, provision of financial services, coordination of government programs, and feedback by the people on government services and wealth programs.

Each parish is scheduled to receive Shs100m to implement the initiative targeting the rural population.

The minister revealed this development during an engagement meeting with the district LC5 Chairpersons, Chief Administrative Officers, Resident District Commissioners, Youth Chairpersons, disability and older persons.

Under her docket, the government is implementing programs targeting youth, older persons, women and disabled persons to economically uplift their social well-being.

The engagement was to brief them on the status of the programs under her ministry and receive proposals on how to ensure the districts benefit.

The districts include; Kwania, Lira, Alebtong, Otuke, Oyam, Dokolo, Amolatar, Kole and Apac.

Amongi, who is also Oyam South legislator advised youth in the sub-region to keep on following up all government projects for a better impact.

“Under the ministry of gender labour and social development, we are committed to ensuring that these projects cause positive impacts by directly supporting both primary and secondary school teachers,” she revealed.

Without explaining the detail, Amongi said each teacher from a private school not government aided will receive Shs100,000.

“I am happy that 17 districts have already uploaded names of their teachers,” Amongi said, adding that they target 300,000 teachers.

The Alebtong LC5 boss David Kenedy Odongo, welcomed the development saying private school teachers suffered more the consequence of COVID-19 lockdown.

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