Cattle compensation exercise on-going in affected districts
OTUKE– The government has started compensating 92,000 claimants in Lango, Acholi and Teso sub-regions after their heads of cattle and other domestic animals were looted during the insurgency in northern Uganda.
Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi, confirmed the development over the weekend at Baralegi State Lodge in Otuke district as President Yoweri Museveni met leaders from Lango and Acholi sub-regions.
He said the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, has so far paid 15,149 people in the sub-region and that Shs 31 billion has already been used for that purpose.
The government earmarked Shs 150bln to compensate the claimants and according to Kafuuzi, Shs 50bln was released for the 29 districts in the sub-region, with each district being allocated Shs1.7bln.
Museveni launched the compensation payments for the cattle lost in Soroti University months ago alleging that the animals were stolen during Milton Obote’s regime, even though it is claimed NRA/M soldiers also helped themselves with the animals for food.
“He who leaves the bed last must arrange it. So the NRM has to arrange all these beds because it is the last. The others who were in the bed left, so NRM has to settle these cases,” Museveni was quoted.
Kafuuzi said because of limited resources, the payments being made range from Shs 1mln to the maximum of Shs 5mln.
He added that they are still validating and getting data cards from the chief administrative officers in the three sub-regions.
“Some claimants demand Shs 400mln but we agreed that at the moment the highest claimants can be given Shs 5mln because if we are to go with high demands we are going to pay fewer people,” he said.
Lango Parliamentary Group [LPG] headed by MP Judith Alyek, commended Museveni for compensating people who lost their animals, though she said the process was slow.
She concurred with the Kafuuzi that Shs 1.7bln was allocated per district and that some districts underspent their allocation ceiling while others overshot.
The MPs in their joint document of demands to Museveni said government should consider increasing the compensation money from Shs 150bln to Shs 300bln.
“In light of the hard economic challenges with due consideration of an additional number of claimants from 92,000 targeted to 200,000, we propose that Shs 300bln be allocated for the exercise,” MP Alyek said.
Museveni was meeting security, political, and religious leaders of Lango, Acholi sub-regions over rampant cattle thefts and the increasing insecurity in the neighboring districts of the Karamoja region
He also said the Shs 100mln allocated to each parish under Parish Development Model [PDM] would help the families get rid of abject household poverty but also push the households to the money economy.
https://thecooperator.news/lango-mps-query-the-verified-cattle-compensation-list-by-government/
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