Three projects under DRDIP worth three (3) billion shillings in Obongi district have expired without completion. The projects include a storied production office worth over 1.9 billion shillings at the district headquarters, the renovation of two classroom blocks at Palorinya Primary School worth over six hundred million shillings in Palorinya sub-county, and the construction of a three-roomed doctor’s house at over 250 million shillings in Itula sub-county. The project for Palorinya Primary School was awarded to Nyongos and Sons Limited. DRDIP is funded by the Ugandan government and the World Bank. It is implemented in the refugee-hosting districts in Uganda.
The district Chairperson of Obongi, Haji Abibu Khemis Buga, and the Resident District Commissioner’s (RDC) office raised a red flag in April 2023 and directed the termination of the projects. RDC Samuel Hasaka blamed the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Obongi, Mr. Andrew Leru, for refusing to terminate the project contractor. The Acting District Engineer, Onapa Ivan, wrote a letter warning that the project of the production office should be terminated, but again, the CAO refused to terminate it, according to the RDC.
DRDIP is set to end by December 31, 2023, without completion. However, the production office was supposed to be completed by September of this year after starting in February. Development Infrastructure signed a contract with Obongi district local government but secretly sold the site to “Home Builders of Kampala.”
RDC Hasaka has since then called upon the office of the Minister of State for Economic Monitoring, Hon. Beatrice Akori, to intervene in Obongi district to tackle the circle of the extended wave of organized corruption being experienced in the district at the moment. Recently, Minister Akori Beatrice stormed Arua and discovered a number of issues related to corruption.
When contacted, Mr. Andrew Leru, the Obongi district CAO, did not answer our repeated phone calls to give his side of the story. In a letter seen by our reporter, Hasaka has written to the Minister of Economic Monitoring and the Inspector General of Government, summoning them to appear in Obongi district to save government funds being swindled by some civil servants in the district. He wants the study leave of about three implicated district staff canceled and instead, they be recalled and arrested for causing financial loss in the district.