Report exposes rot in Mbale district
Feb 20, 2008
MBALE Municipality administration is engaged in rampant abuse of office, embezzlement, misallocation of government land and other properties and corruption, a commission of inquiry has discovered.
By Joshua Kato and
Josephine Maseruka
MBALE Municipality administration is engaged in rampant abuse of office, embezzlement, misallocation of government land and other properties and corruption, a commission of inquiry has discovered.
The commission was appointed in 2007, to inquire into the running and management of public affairs by Mbale Municipality. It was composed of four personalities, Fiona Egunyu (chairperson) Aida Mehangye and David Mwaka (members) and the secretary was Baker Akantambulira.
“There is widespread abuse of office by members of the executive committee, management and staff of Mbale Municipal Council, in execution of their duties,†the report says.
They lobbied and directed the tender boards to allocate tenders to certain groups, firms, companies.
They regularly took unilateral decisions, reducing revenue payable by Mbale United Transporters, an act that usurped the powers of the tender board.
They caused financial losses to the Municipality because of their actions. For example, in April 2005, according to the report, then acting town clerk Wonyema Masaba, deputy town clerk J.Mabonga and chairman finance committee Osinde, unilaterally reduced the tender fee for the abattoir to sh4m per month, which led to a monthly loss of about sh64m as of November 2006
According to the report, other losses included sh30m in the Mbale Taxi Park and sh5m per month in another taxi park,
The committee received cases of officials soliciting for bribes from companies interested in winning tenders.
Although the law stipulates that revenue collecting companies have to pay their funds directly in the bank, this was not the case in Mbale. For example, managers of utilities like the taxi parks made their payments either in cash to the division cashiers and accountants, or by depositing the money on the council`s collection account.
“Management of cash collections is poor. Not all cash collections are banked because monies received in cash are spent on unplanned activities,†the report says.
The committee also discovered that there was no comprehensive data on the collection and sharing of revenue, as stipulated in the Local Government Financial Regulations.
As a result, there are persistent wrangles between division local governments and the municipality over revenue collection.
“There is low revenue collection because of failure to effectively tender revenue sources, under-assessment of revenue sources,†the report says.
To make matters worse, some defaulting tender operators have been awarded new tenders even after defaulting on previous ones. One of these tender operators is Mbale United Transporters.
The report calls for a wide range of actions, including disbanding the contracts committee in order to remove all those officers tainted with corruption. It also calls for the prosecution of some of the tainted members.
The report recommends that the tender for the running of the notoriously trouble-stricken taxi park be tendered out by the Ministry of Local Government or another procuring entity that is not tainted.
Furthermore, that the contracts of all those companies that have failed to perform be terminated and re-advertised, so that more competent companies are got.
“Mbale Municipality should refund to MS Africa International Investments Limited, the sum of sh14,493,000 paid as security bond for the tender of the Mbale Main and Kumi Road Taxi parks,†the report recommends.
Josephine Maseruka
MBALE Municipality administration is engaged in rampant abuse of office, embezzlement, misallocation of government land and other properties and corruption, a commission of inquiry has discovered.
The commission was appointed in 2007, to inquire into the running and management of public affairs by Mbale Municipality. It was composed of four personalities, Fiona Egunyu (chairperson) Aida Mehangye and David Mwaka (members) and the secretary was Baker Akantambulira.
“There is widespread abuse of office by members of the executive committee, management and staff of Mbale Municipal Council, in execution of their duties,†the report says.
They lobbied and directed the tender boards to allocate tenders to certain groups, firms, companies.
They regularly took unilateral decisions, reducing revenue payable by Mbale United Transporters, an act that usurped the powers of the tender board.
They caused financial losses to the Municipality because of their actions. For example, in April 2005, according to the report, then acting town clerk Wonyema Masaba, deputy town clerk J.Mabonga and chairman finance committee Osinde, unilaterally reduced the tender fee for the abattoir to sh4m per month, which led to a monthly loss of about sh64m as of November 2006
According to the report, other losses included sh30m in the Mbale Taxi Park and sh5m per month in another taxi park,
The committee received cases of officials soliciting for bribes from companies interested in winning tenders.
Although the law stipulates that revenue collecting companies have to pay their funds directly in the bank, this was not the case in Mbale. For example, managers of utilities like the taxi parks made their payments either in cash to the division cashiers and accountants, or by depositing the money on the council`s collection account.
“Management of cash collections is poor. Not all cash collections are banked because monies received in cash are spent on unplanned activities,†the report says.
The committee also discovered that there was no comprehensive data on the collection and sharing of revenue, as stipulated in the Local Government Financial Regulations.
As a result, there are persistent wrangles between division local governments and the municipality over revenue collection.
“There is low revenue collection because of failure to effectively tender revenue sources, under-assessment of revenue sources,†the report says.
To make matters worse, some defaulting tender operators have been awarded new tenders even after defaulting on previous ones. One of these tender operators is Mbale United Transporters.
The report calls for a wide range of actions, including disbanding the contracts committee in order to remove all those officers tainted with corruption. It also calls for the prosecution of some of the tainted members.
The report recommends that the tender for the running of the notoriously trouble-stricken taxi park be tendered out by the Ministry of Local Government or another procuring entity that is not tainted.
Furthermore, that the contracts of all those companies that have failed to perform be terminated and re-advertised, so that more competent companies are got.
“Mbale Municipality should refund to MS Africa International Investments Limited, the sum of sh14,493,000 paid as security bond for the tender of the Mbale Main and Kumi Road Taxi parks,†the report recommends.