Busia youth fund beneficiaries warned

Busia district risks losing the second phase of the youth livelihood fund unless a full recovery of the revolving fund is obtained, Moses Ntiregenya, the eastern region coordinator, has said.

"Government wants to deal with committed people of integrity and not thugs," he said, adding that promises made by the youth groups in Busia to repay the fund have not yielded.

In the financial year 2014-15, Busia district received sh434m which benefited 48 youth groups. However, only sh10m has been recovered.

While meeting the group chairpersons and sub county leaders in Chango Machyo Hall at Busia district headquarters, Ntiregenya said some of the districts that benefited in the second phase had recovered up to 60% of the funds, beating Busia which was in the first slot.

The secretariat, he said, had recovered up to sh2b and named Kiruhura, Kampala and Bushenyi as the best performing districts where 100% recoveries have been made.

"Your colleagues in Kampala, Kotido and Moroto can pay. What is wrong with you people at the border?" asked Ntiregenya. He told the beneficiaries that the money should not end with them, noting that the recovered money should be given to new groups.

He reminded the youths that they willingly requested for the revolving grant and that they should not be forced or arrested before it is recovered.  "Don't push us to the wall to make you pay because this method may not be good."

The youth groups were advised to update the district technical officers on how they are performing and that those with challenges should be guided while those doing well should pay.

On their part, the youths said most of their projects had failed because the technical officers, right from the district to sub county level, asked them for kickbacks, leaving them with little money.

They said they were given enterprises which they lacked knowledge of and also without being trained.

James Ojambo, a senior assistant secretary, said several stakeholders had not ably played their roles to help the groups benefit from their selected projects.

The resident district commissioner (RDC), Kennedy Adhola Otiti, was doubtful that the district would recover even sh15m even with a grace period of 10 years.

This, he said, is so because the normal process of using local leaders that have a clear understanding of what the youth in their areas can do was not followed, leaving the youth to gamble around.

He said technical officers and politicians benefited from the fund and asked the fund secretariat to empower the RDC to investigate to ensure gaps in Phase One are not repeated.