The Minister In charge of the Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda has asked the Resident District Commissioners (RDCs) and Resident City Commissioners (RCCs) in Bunyoro and Rwenzori to implement the Presidential Directive of February 28, 2022 to deal with the rampant land grabbing cases in the sub-regions.
The Minister made the appeal yesterday during the closure of the 2-day Capacity Building Workshop for RDCs/RCCs/ Deputies and the DISOs from the Rwenzori and Bunyoro sub-regions, held at Mica Eco Resort Hotel- Hoima City.
Hon Babalanda’s message was delivered by the Deputy Director General of the Internal Security Organization (ISO) Lt. Col Emmy Katabazi who represented her as the Chief Guest at the workshop.
“There is rampant and violent land grabbing in this region which has resulted in loss of lives. Land grabbers are taking advantage of ignorance and powerlessness of villagers to put titles on their lands and snatch it through trickeries. The RDCs should deal with these land grabbers by implementing the presidential directive of February 28, 2022 that comprehensively addresses this issue. These land grabbers are using the Courts to buy time and even compromise some judicial officers” Hon. Babalanda said.
The Minister cautioned that the RDCs should be on the lookout of all the land criminal actions by fully investigating these cases and directly reporting to the Principal Judge or the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) or the Minister for Lands to brief them of what is happening on the ground, especially in cases of emergency that are straightforward and require immediate intervention.
“Such reports should always be copied into the Minister and the Secretary Office of the President,” she emphasized.
The Minister also tasked the commissioners and DISOs to fight corruption to ensure proper implementation of government programs and projects.
“If we manage the resources at our disposal we’ll and also do proper monitoring and supervision of government programs, the issue of corruption will be minimized. The more we lose money at the hands of corrupt officials, the more we curtail our transformation,” Hon. Babalanda said.
“Additionally, I have information about contractors who have abandoned their work partly due to corruption or laziness. The RDCs are called upon to inspect the government projects done by these contractors. I shall not name the affected projects but I am writing to the State House anti-corruption Unit and the IGG to investigate why they have abandoned work in your districts and why the government continues to lose so much money through such corrupt tendencies. Is it that some RDCs are sleeping on the job? why is it that it had to take us to discover these anomalies ourselves when you are on ground?” she wondered.
On the issue of implementing the Parish Development Model (PDM) and Emyooga, Hon. Babalanda asked the workshop attendees to double their energy in supervising the implementation of the two flagship programs of the government.
She revealed that the President was concerned that RDCs/ RCCs were not giving sufficient attention to these activities that aim at dealing with the poverty problem in the country.
“You need to be in the know of all the monies that have been received in the district/city; how many groups of the beneficiaries have received or have not and what are the issues pertaining to delays, obstructions or inconsistencies in the performance of the programs,” the Minister advised.
“You are called upon to address the concerns raised about some beneficiaries who have not yet entered in the system. Please sit with the CAO and the concerned PDM technical officers to have all the entitled persons entered in the system and ensure they receive the funds as planned. The loopholes of delays are being used by the corrupt district officials to penetrate the system and extort money from unsuspecting potential beneficiaries claiming they are helping them to get onto the system. H.E the President’s views on PDM that were issued while at Masaka recently are to be applied countrywide. You are called upon to read the President’s letter on PDM.”
The Minister also told the commissioners and DISOs that the President was concerned that they have not been able to popularize the directive on wetlands encroachment even when the environmental disasters linked to these encroachments continue to show face in communities.
As an interim measure, Hon. Babalanda tasked the commissioners to forward to the Office of the President the lists of those with titles in the wetlands so that they can start from here to address the concerns standing in the way of the directive in Bunyoro sub-region.
“You are required to promote and defend government programs and policies but unfortunately some of you have failed. You have the free government air time on radio but you do not appear on the radios. Some of you cannot even get coverage from public functions. We do not read about you in the news, or watch you on television. If you are nowhere in the above and you are not in the communities, where are you operating from? Indeed, some of you have even never made any reports to my office. I can count over ten from Bunyoro who have never submitted any monthly report to me. I shall pick interest in these people’s work and discover what they are doing.”
On the issue of security in Bunyoro, the Minister asked the commissioners and DISOs to take the issue very seriously because the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) is still active in the area.
“People are crossing the borders as they wish. You are called upon to be vigilant to manage and screen those moving. You should not leave the issues of screening only to the Immigration staff. As chairpersons and members of the security committees you need to pick interest in this area as well.”
Lt Col. Kibrai Ambako, the Senior Presidential Advisor- Mobilisation, RDC Secretariat urged the RDCs to get directly involved in the supervision and implementation of government programs like PDM.
“Empower masses economically through programs like PDM and get involved directly even in the first pillar of production. You should be exemplary. If you are waiting for salaries to make ends meet, you are a suspect of insecurity already,” Lt. Col Kibrai said.
The Senior Presidential Advisor also asked the commissioners to always look at security issues in their area from a strategic perspective and this will help them to defend the country against threats to the nation’s vital interests like social services.
“The reports you make are not comprehensive enough, no discussions. It clearly explains that you don’t understand security. The nature that guides your discussions is empty. You don’t discuss the core issues affecting your country. That is security,” he said, adding that, ” Internal threats like bad politics and land encroachment are the immediate ones you should address.”
At the same workshop, Ms. Jovrine Kaliisa Kyomukama, the Deputy National Coordinator of PDM called for team up between the RDCs and the PDM Secretariat to ensure that the program becomes a success.
“President Yoweri Museveni said PDM must work, you’re the ears and eyes for the President in your areas of jurisdiction so please ensure that the program succeeds. Work as a team to achieve the socio-economic development of our country,” she said.
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