Nabbanja cautions Hoima officials against 'selling' government jobs

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HOIMA - The Prime Minister of Uganda, Robinah Nabbanja, has tasked members of the District Service Commission to explain reports about officials accused of selling off jobs to the highest bidder. 

According to Nabbanja, she has continued receiving complaints about the conduct of some district officials soliciting money from job applicants.

“I have received several claims from applicants who inform me that jobs are being sold in Hoima, and people pay money for secure jobs. That is why I am tasking our NRM district chairman and LCV flag bearer to stop that bad vice when he assumes office,” Nabbanja said.

Nabbanja hands out NRM party flags to PWDs flag bearers in Hoima district on Friday. (Credit: Wilson Asiimwe)

Nabbanja, on Friday, while meeting Hoima district NRM party flag bearers at Dwoli primary school in Kitoba sub-county, asked the district officials to intensify supervision and monitoring government programs as one way of ensuring” that people get good services.

Addressing the audience, which included MPs, local leaders, NRM flag bearers at various levels, and members of the NRM grassroots structures, Nabbanja evaluated service delivery by the government in Bugahya and Kigorobya Counties at Dwoli Primary School in Kitoba sub-county.

During the meeting, she encouraged leaders to spread the gospel of the NRM government's successes and ensure service delivery continues to improve in their communities.

“Government has implemented several programs and projects aimed at improving the well-being of Ugandans am urging the leaders to ensure that they intensify supervision and monitoring,” Nabbanja said.

She also asked the people of Hoima to massively support President Museveni and the NRM party because of the various projects the government has implemented in the district and the entire Bunyoro sub-region.

“In the health sector am reliably informed that almost ever sub-county has got a health center iii and in the education sector almost every parish has a primary school and every sub-county has a secondary school in line with the government policy and the few which don’t have am asking the chief administrative officer to write to us and we shall include that in our budgets,” Nabbanja said.

The state minister for Public Service, Mary Mugasa, said that the NRM has achieved tremendous progress in providing security, a good road network, the construction of Hoima stadium and Kabalega international airport, which provide opportunities to the people in Hoima and the Bunyoro sub-region.

Mugasa dismissed claims that the NRM government has failed to achieve progress in the areas of health and poverty reduction. She says the NRM party may be faced with challenges and obstacles to service delivery, but argues that the government under the stewardship of President Yoweri Museveni has made recognisable gains that need to be applauded.

NRM flag bearers ask government to intervene in land evictions

Pius Wakabi, the Bugahya County member of Parliament and NRM flag bearer, asked Nabbanja to intervene and end the escalating land evictions.

During the interaction with the Prime Minister, Wakabi highlighted the severity of the situation in both counties of Hoima district.

“Hundreds of people in my constituency were evicted from their ancestral land between 2019 and 2024. These families are still languishing in poverty without assistance,” Wakabi said.

He emphasised the need for the government to find a lasting solution to what he described as Bunyoro’s enduring land question.

Wakabi said that land-grabbing cases have persisted in Hoima for years, leaving many residents living in fear as they face threats of eviction from their ancestral land.

“We should advocate for free distribution of land titles to residents to help them protect their land from grabbers and speculators because many people have lost their land, and we have very many cases of land grabbing in Hoima,” Wakabi said.

Wembabzi said that the alarming rate of land grabbing and evictions targeting vulnerable people in the region is worrying. He calls on candidates to prioritise the issue once elected.

Pius Wakabi, the Bugahya County Member of Parliament, says if re-elected, he will push the government to issue free land titles to the people of Bunyoro to protect them from land grabbers.

Hoima district has witnessed a series of land evictions by speculators and grabbers who invaded the area following the discovery of oil and gas.

Recently, about 2000 people were evicted from their homes in Kapaapi sub-county and about 1000 people were also evicted from their homes in Rwobunyonyonyi in Hoima district.