RX Radio presenter Sarah Apollo has expressed mistrust in the newly launched government intervention that is intended to dedicate 250 million dollars (800 billion shillings) to the redevelopment of war wrecked communities in Northern Uganda.
During The Fatboy Show with Olive Najjuma, Sarah said that most government initiatives have profound objectives but always end up creating minimal impact in their intended communities.
“We never get to see the impact of government initiatives. How many people have been helped? How many testimonial stories are there? We never see people saying that because of this government scheme, I was able to move from point a to b, we never get to see any development on ground!” she complained.
Sarah also expressed discontentment over the implementation of the schemes which she said beneficiaries are never sensitized in order to benefit from them. From the Bonna Bagagawale, Emyooga and the newly devised Parish Development model, Sarah complained about the schemes having the similar challenges that make them gravitate to the same end.
“This is where the government goes wrong, it doesn't matter if you're investing millions or billions of shillings into these schemes, If people don't know about them, you're not helping anybody. At the end we are going to have corruption over corruption and a few people benefitting. Actually the people who don't need this assistance are the ones going to take the money and credit.”Sarah added.
Olive the show co host urged Sarah to have faith in the system saying that although the government is responsible for creating an impact through these schemes, the people also have a role to play in holding the leaders accountable.
“If we as people don't bother to follow up or task these people to give us results, then there’s something wrong with us. We are weak and not focused, so we can’t put the blame on our leaders alone,” said Olive.
Sarah in concession said the people also have a responsibility to put their representatives to account since they approve the initiatives and ensure action other than faulting the government alone.
The intervention named the Northern Uganda Social Action Fund (Nusaf 4) is its fourth phase and its to be funded by the Ugandan government in conjunction with the World Bank. It is aimed at improving household incomes of people in Northern Uganda for a period of five years starting July 2022.
The Fatboy show is hosted by James Onen aka Fatboy, Olive and Sarah every weekday from 6am to 10am on RX Radio.
Comments