By Steven Ariong
KAABONG: The day government officials under Museveni stop using Karamoja as their eating ground is the day that Karamoja will start developing.
Last week this website published an article on how Karamoja has turned into an eating ground for people working under this current government and this has continued.
Just looking at the last year’s distribution of gala and East African small female goats which President Museveni himself jetted in Karamoja and launched, this program was meant to support the reformed Karamoja get rustlers who handed over their guns to government.
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Each youth was supposed to receive 15goats and one male bore across the region.
Office of the Prime minister which is currently facing parliamentary probe over theft of Karamoja iron sheets called for companies to supply goats across the region, however some contractors used their own syndicate to steal from the poor Karamoja.
For the example Kaabong Town Council which was supposed to receive 2,160 goats never received a single goat till date.
Mackdad Logira the Mayor of Kaabong Town Council says they even don’t know the company which was supposed to supply goats to the town council. He further says Kaabong town council was supposed to have received 2,160 goats but no single goat was delivered in the town council.
“We are told there some companies that have already been paid billions of shillings after presenting forms to office of the prime minister claiming to have delivered goats in the town council”-says Mackdad
Logira says some people especially in other sub-counties like Lotim and Kalapata were given Shs50,000 each person who was supposed to receive the goats and they take those goats to other areas to distribute.
According to Logira when authorities tried to intervene, the suppliers threatened the leaders that they were from state house.
These suppliers didn’t want to listen any word from the leaders in the district because they they were from state house and we kept quite”- he recalls.
Geace Nakiru from Kalapata told this website that some people after supplying them goats went back to those who received them and retrieved the goats while giving the beneficiaries Shs50,000.
“They claimed they were going to bring other goats, i also received Shs50,000 from them and we didn’t know that it’s like they were buying the same goats from us taking to other places”- she says.
This website has also learnt that each goat was budgeted between Shs400,000 to Shs600,000 depending their breeds.
According to the list of companies that supplied goats to Kaabong, they are nine companies and they include, Oped contractors, which is listed to have supplied 1,000 small African local female goats to 100 beneficiaries.
The others are Twemed General suppliers limited in the list supplied 1,000 small East African local female to 100 beneficiaries. Bukanga Highland supplied 1,000 small East African female goats also to 100 beneficiaries.
Further Platinum business Uganda supplied 1,000,East African female goats also to 100 beneficiaries, Rutaborwa enterprises supplied 1,000 Boer cross female goats to 200 beneficiaries.
While Abemari smc Ltd supplied 1,650 small East African goats to 165 beneficiaries and Enrich Agro vet technology Ltd supplied 1,000 Small East African female goats to 100 beneficiaries.
Luck and lark Co. Ltd supplied 2,000 Small East African female goats to 200 beneficiaries. and M/S National Animal Genetic Resources centre and Data bank supplied 1,000 Boer bucks to 1,000 beneficiaries, this brings to the total of 10,650 claimed to have been distributed to Kaabong but locals say many people never saw the goats.
“What’s written in the lists is just paper accountability but nothing is on the ground,” Said Veronica Nakut.
Samson Lokeris the former member of parliament of Dodoth East county in Kaabong district says the whole distribution exercise of goats was messed up.He called upon the state house anti corruption unit to pick interest and go to Kaabong.
“Parliamentary committee on presidential affairs should also summoned all the company owners who supplied goats to Karamoja because there is evidence that these companies some of them never delivered the goats to Kaabong but they were paid all the money”-Lokeris suggests.
According to Mr.Lokeris in Kathile sub county, people were given to fill forms and given shs 50,000 instead of goat’s.
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