Lira leaders dismiss NUSAF probe report
May 23, 2007
LIRA<br><br>The LC5 chairman, Franco Ojur and vice Tonny Ogwang Adwari, have dismissed the probe report that implicated them in the mismanagement of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF). The duo described the report as incompetent and not authentic.
LIRA
By Patrick Okino
The LC5 chairman, Franco Ojur and vice Tonny Ogwang Adwari, have dismissed the probe report that implicated them in the mismanagement of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF). The duo described the report as incompetent and not authentic.
The report, presented by the probe committee chairperson, Charles Ebange, in a council meeting recently, accused Ojur, Ogwang and Dr Joel Ongebo, the former NUSAF district technical officer of project mismanagement, influence peddling and false accountability.
Ojur was also accused of using his son to sign a contract worth sh33m for the construction of Abedober Road in Abako sub-county.
But in his rebuttal, Ojur told the council that the report was politically-motivated to destroy his reputation.
“The validity of the report is questionable because the select committee was not guided by a technical person appointed by the chief administrative officer,†Ojur said during the session chaired by the speaker, Nelson Adea.
He said he does not have a son called Joseph Olwa at Makerere University as the report alleges and that he declared all his children to the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG).
“The allegations are not supported by evidence like documents, photographs, audio and visual recordings,†Ojur noted.
The district remained with sh3.7b for supplementing NUSAF projects in its first phase, which ends in September.
The report says there are 155 community development initiatives, vulnerable group support and conflict resolution and conflict management projects which were not completed.
But Ojur said: “NUSAF’s problem is lack of guidelines. The money is disbursed directly to the Community Project Management Committee, which mismanages the fund.â€
He said the committee disregarded the principle of natural justice by not inviting him to defend himself.
On the other hand, Ogwang said some members of the committee did not have the moral authority to carry out investigations, since they were corrupt.
He also tasked the committee to produce evidence indicating how he falsely accounted for the funds.
Ogwang and Ojur demanded an apology from the committee, but it refused.
“Why should we apologise? The report is authentic and is exactly what we got on the ground,†Ebange said.
The councillors referred the matter to the IGG.
By Patrick Okino
The LC5 chairman, Franco Ojur and vice Tonny Ogwang Adwari, have dismissed the probe report that implicated them in the mismanagement of the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (NUSAF). The duo described the report as incompetent and not authentic.
The report, presented by the probe committee chairperson, Charles Ebange, in a council meeting recently, accused Ojur, Ogwang and Dr Joel Ongebo, the former NUSAF district technical officer of project mismanagement, influence peddling and false accountability.
Ojur was also accused of using his son to sign a contract worth sh33m for the construction of Abedober Road in Abako sub-county.
But in his rebuttal, Ojur told the council that the report was politically-motivated to destroy his reputation.
“The validity of the report is questionable because the select committee was not guided by a technical person appointed by the chief administrative officer,†Ojur said during the session chaired by the speaker, Nelson Adea.
He said he does not have a son called Joseph Olwa at Makerere University as the report alleges and that he declared all his children to the office of the Inspector General of Government (IGG).
“The allegations are not supported by evidence like documents, photographs, audio and visual recordings,†Ojur noted.
The district remained with sh3.7b for supplementing NUSAF projects in its first phase, which ends in September.
The report says there are 155 community development initiatives, vulnerable group support and conflict resolution and conflict management projects which were not completed.
But Ojur said: “NUSAF’s problem is lack of guidelines. The money is disbursed directly to the Community Project Management Committee, which mismanages the fund.â€
He said the committee disregarded the principle of natural justice by not inviting him to defend himself.
On the other hand, Ogwang said some members of the committee did not have the moral authority to carry out investigations, since they were corrupt.
He also tasked the committee to produce evidence indicating how he falsely accounted for the funds.
Ogwang and Ojur demanded an apology from the committee, but it refused.
“Why should we apologise? The report is authentic and is exactly what we got on the ground,†Ebange said.
The councillors referred the matter to the IGG.