Lira district head castigates ministry over Shs 600mln allocation
LIRA– Lira district, LC5 chairperson, Richard Cox Okello Orik is displeased after the Health Ministry allocated only Shs 600 million to the district’s health department in the next financial year.
This is after the Ministry of Finance in the current financial 2021/2022 allocated Shs 4bln to the health department.
He said the district had planned to upgrade Ogur Health Centre IV to a district hospital, Aromo health unit and construct a maternity ward at Onywako Health Centre.
Orik blamed the Minister of Health Dr. Jane Aceng over the budget cut for the department, alleging that the minister is “punishing the district for reasons best known to her.”
He said soon, they will travel to Kampala to meet Aceng or Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja over the matter.
“We want to go to the prime minister because this money is too little and cannot do any tangible development,” Orik said.
Orik was speaking days ago during the approval of Shs 39.6bln budget for the financial year 2022/2023 in a meeting chaired by the district speaker Moris Adem Okello.
This also comes when the leadership of Lira city and the district are fighting over ownership of property after the government granted Lira municipality a city status in 2020.
Due to the conflict between the two parties, government recently withdrew Shs 1.8bln meant for the construction of Anyomorem health unit in Lira City East Division and instead the funds were used to construction Barlonyo Health Centre in Agweng town council, Lira district.
The diversion of the money angered authorities in Lira city, including minister Aceng who represents the city in the Parliament of Uganda.
Efforts to seek comment from Dr. Aceng were futile as she could not return our calls.
In the budget for the next financial year, education was allocated loin share of Shs 16 bln (41.6 percent), administration, Shs 9.9bln, finance and administration Shs 585mln, production and marketing, Shs 2bln.
Patrick Ogwal Enyema, the district secretary for health and education, said they have allocated more money to the education sector to boost performance.
On June 14, 2022, Finance Minister Matia Kasaija read Shs48.1 trillion budget for the financial year 2022/23, which begins on July 1, 2022.
https://thecooperator.news/lira-lc5-turns-down-ministers-letter-to-suspend-land-board/
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