Fraud claims in L. Victoria sh70b rescue project

Apr 15, 2013

A multi-billion dollar World Bank-funded project to save Lake Victoria now hangs in balance following serious audit queries.

trueUntil World Environment Day, June 5, in a campaign, Save Lake Victoria, Vision Group media platforms is running investigative articles, programmes and commentaries highlighting the irresponsible human activities threatening the world’s largest fresh water lake.

By Francis Kagolo

A multi-million dollar World Bank-funded project to save Lake Victoria now hangs in balance following serious audit queries.

Officials at the multi-lateral agency offices in Kampala said the funding was halted in November last year arising from a value-for-money audit from the first tranche of $9.8m (about sh25.1b) disbursed to the Ministry of Water and Environment to implement the Lake Victoria Environmental Management (LVEMPII) project.

Under the $114.8m (about sh294.5b) earmarked for the five states in the Lake Victoria catchment area including Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, Uganda was to receive $27.5m (about sh70.5b). The project was to conserve biodiversity to reverse environmental degradation and stabilise the lake ecosystem.

However, while Kenya and Tanzania are about to complete the first phase of the five-year project (2009 - 2013), Uganda is yet to start despite the fact that 30% of the funds was released in October 2010.

Close to 50 Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and nine districts were to receive funds to plant trees to restore the depleted forests and wetlands. Other interventions were to create alternative sources of livelihood like poultry and apiculture for people living on landing sites to reduce the stress put on the lake.

Uganda slackens the project

“Uganda was the last partner to make the project effective on January 25, 2010, about a year after the other partner states,” said Steven Shalita, the senior communications specialist for World Bank in Africa, explained.

“Owing to this late start, there has been a slower implementation. However, other institutional challenges including low operational capacity and the complex multi-sectoral design of the project affected implementation across all the partner states.”

At the request of the partner states, says Shalita, the Bank restructured the project in June 2012 so as to improve implementation efficiency, extending the project’s time-line to June 2015. 

“Following the project restructuring, an in-depth financial review was undertaken in October 2012, which identified some concerns,” he stated.

Pressed to expound on the nature of concerns that arose from the audit, Shalita said he could not go into the specifics because he did not have the report.

He however, explained that in November 2012, the World Bank requested the Ministry of Water and Environment to address the concerns raised before any further disbursements could be made.

Sh5.2b funds mismanaged?

More questions have emerged from a report compiled by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission revealing that Ugandan officials have spent the entire vote of $2m (about sh5.2b) meant for coordination and management.

Ironically, this happened before the ministry had disbursed any funds to the intended CBOs for the implementation of some of the activities.

According to the report, although Uganda trails Kenya and Tanzania in implementation, officials reported zero balance on the money allocated for project coordination and managing. 

Tanzania and Kenya, which score highly in implementation have only spent 77% and 69% of their coordination funds respectively. Tanzania still has a balance of $81,892 (about sh210m) while Kenya has $358,695 (about sh920m).

“This raises an eyebrow as to why Uganda could use all its money in one financial year unlike other countries,” said Ken Oluoch, the regional advocacy officer for a network of civil society organisations that are monitoring the project.

“There is need for more transparency. The people at the grassroots are not informed about what is going on. The information is not clear,” Oluoch noted.

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Deforestation has taken root in most of the forests. The project was meant to restore degraded forests around Lake Victoria.

Dodgy ministry

When contacted for comment,  Sowed Sewagudde, the LVEMP II project coordinator at the Ministry of Water and Environment, admitted that the project had delayed but that the delay was due to the need to harmonise policies on water resources management with other partner states first.

He confirmed that they had not disbursed funds to CBOs to implement the Community Driven Development (CDD) projects, saying the ministry was still preparing the proposals.

“The project is undergoing restructuring, which arose out of the midterm review. After this, we shall implement.” Sewagudde stated. 

Sewagudde however, declined to comment on the audit queries and concerns raised by the World Bank, saying it was only the Permanent Secretary (PS) mandated to answer queries on finances.

The permanent secretary, David Obong, said he was “medically impaired” to comment on the issue and referred New Vision to the director of water development, Eng. Shillingi Mugisha.

However, Mugisha also bounced the issue saying it was only the PS who could comment on financial issues.

District officials stuck

Meanwhile, the district officials and CBOs that had signed agreements with the ministry in September, 2012 to implement the project are now up in arms.

Vincent Kinene, the natural resources officer for Mubende district, said the project had turned out to be an embarrassment.

“I am really bitter. District environment departments are ill-funded. We lack funds to fight pollution and restore degraded wetlands and forest reserves,” Kinene said.

“When this project came, the ministry told us that money would not be a problem anymore. We then mobilised communities to start environment-friendly projects, which we would fund. But we have been embarrassed,” he added.

His district had been promised sh150m to plant 69 hectares of trees to restore Kiryandongo forest reserve that has been depleted by encroachers.

The money would also fund interventions to restore wetlands around Lake Wamala as well as Kibimba, Nabakazi and Katonga rivers that are threatened by heavy silting.

Illegal activities take root

Water from Lake Wamala used to flow through River Kibimba into Katonga, which eventually pours into Lake Victoria whenever it rained. However, the once permanent river Kibimba has been virtually dry for the last two years due to silting.

Mubende is also ranked third among the top deforested districts in Uganda, having lost over 75% of its forest cover in just 10 years.

“Restoring these wetlands and forest cover would help to save Lake Victoria,” Kinene said. “But now all this is hanging in balance. It is as if we have abandoned the lake to dry.”

Mzee Augustine Kabogoza, 70, the coordinator of Naama United, a Mityana-based organisation, explained that delayed implementation of the LVEMP II project had left them indebted. His group had been promised sh36m to start poultry, piggery and diary projects as baits to seduce encroachers to move from wetlands and forest reserves.

“The poor members of our group borrowed over sh0.5m which we spent on drafting proposals to the World Bank. We are yet to pay back this money yet more people continue cultivating in wetlands because the project has failed to take off,” Kabogoza said.

The development comes amidst increasing public outcry over diminishing fish stocks in Lake Victoria especially Nile Perch, which is the most commercially viable specie.

Nile Perch stocks reduced by about 19%, from 84,969 tonnes in 2010 to 69,132 tonnes in 2011, the lowest level ever recorded, according to the Agriculture Sector Performance Report 2012.

Richard Kimbowa of the Uganda Coalition for Sustainable Development, a local NGO, warned that continued delay of the LVEMP II project would worsen the situation especially now that water hyacinth has re-invaded the lake.

Do you have any information or ideas on saving L. Victoria? Email features@newvision.co.ug or visit www.facebook.com/SaveLakeVictoriaCampaign and Twitter @LkVictoria

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