Nakalema hands over hijacked grinding mills

STATE HOUSE|ANTICORRUPTION|GRINDING MILLS

AMOLATAR - There was jubilation at Amolatar trading centre in northern Uganda, as Lt. Col. Edith Nakalema, the head of the State House AntiCorruption Unit (SHACU), handed over five grinding mills to the district administration on behalf of the women in the district.

The mills, given to the women in the five sub-counties of Amolatar, were part of the schemes the Government initiated to generate revenue and boost their welfare.

The project was, however, hijacked by the then state minister for microfinance, Caroline Amali Okao.

President Yoweri Museveni pledged the machines to the women in 2010 and they were installed in 2012, but they remained non-operational after Okao, who doubled as the district Woman Member of Parliament, allegedly blocked the women and district leaders from accessing the mills, at Inomo ward in Amolatar town council.

Nakalema told the residents on Tuesday (November 10, 2020) that the President was surprised that the machines remained redundant and instructed her unit to investigate the matter.

Okao was consequently summoned to her office and quizzed over the project.

She said, finally, Okao accepted to de-register the project in the name of Amolatar Women in Informal Groups Organising and Enterprising (AWIGOE), a privately owned company, where she was a director.

She handed over the resolution to the Resident District Commissioner, Lillian Eyal, which was passed by the members of AWIGOE board, rescinding their interests in the project.

She also said it asked the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) to deregister the project.

The handover was witnessed by women leaders, including Judith Acana, the chairperson of the Namasale town council Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, Lillian Ejang; the LC5 vice-chairperson; the Chief Administrative Officer, Henry Ddamba and Brig. Gen. Besigye Bekunda, the head of the Uganda People's Defence Forces (UPDF) engineers brigade, built the premises and installed the machines.

She said the resolution confirmed that the mills now belong to all the women, including those in the newly created sub-counties and will be managed by the district administration on their behalf.

She also handed over a land title and buildings constructed by the UPDF engineers' brigade.

The resolution, drafted by lawyer Charles Dalton Opwonya and seen by New Vision, was signed by Okao and Dorothy Ojuka, but the third director - Betty Alum alias Hadija Bakar - was not available to append her signature.

They stated that their company, AWIGOE, is willing to assist the Amolatar district local government, if requested, in the running of the mills.

Okao did not attend the function, but several women leaders referred to the project as a case of theft, which they said had denied them income for the past eight years.

Nakalema said the UPDF had offered to train some women from each sub-county on how to operate the machines. She said the supplier had also pledged a one-year warranty and promised to repair the mills if they break down.

She asked the district leaders to help the women access other government programmes, including Emyooga, to boost their incomes.

Acana, in a petition, asked the Government to buy for them a tractor to help in agricultural production, a cereal drying slab, a truck for ferrying their produce, a packaging machine, and office equipment.

The Chief Administrative Officer said apart from the grinding mills, the women were involved in other government projects, including tailoring, handicrafts, and had so far enrolled 19 enterprises to benefit from the Emyooga scheme.