HOIMA CITY, February 5, 2025 – In his latest audit report for the year ending December 31, 2024, Auditor General Edward Akol reveals that only 21 percent of the funds disbursed under the Generating Growth Opportunities and Productivity for Women Enterprises [ GROW ] project have been expended.
“Out of the total disbursement of Shs 52.18 billion, only Shs 10.96 billion [21 percent] was expended, resulting in an unspent balance of Shs 41.22 billion. The unspent funds were still held in the project’s bank accounts at the time of this report,” Akol states in the report, which he recently presented to the Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
The GROW project, run under the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development [MoGLSD], aims to provide entrepreneurial services that will enable female entrepreneurs in Uganda to grow their businesses in targeted areas, including host and refugee districts. The project, worth USD 217 million [approximately Shs 802.9 billion], is funded by the World Bank and became operational on January 20, 2023.
The project is designed to benefit over 60,000 female-owned enterprises, including 3,000 refugee-owned businesses, 280,000 women entrepreneurs and employees; including 42,000 refugees and 14,000 host community members, and 1.6 million indirect beneficiaries.
According to the report, the low absorption rate of the project funds was attributed to delays in the development of manuals and recruitment of staff. “In addition, MoGLSD had not yet trained or sensitised beneficiaries,” the report states.
The report also highlights that an assessment of the Uganda Women Empowerment Project [UWEP] and the Youth Livelihood Programme [YLP] in 127 local government revealed that out of Shs 131 billion due for recovery and subsequent disbursement to new groups, only Shs 8 billion [6 percent] was realised during the year under review, indicating low recovery and undermining the objectives of the programmes.
To address the challenges in the GROW project, the Auditor General advised, “I have recommended that the Accounting Officer of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development…to finalise the development of the manuals, train the beneficiaries, and recruit the necessary staff to roll out the GROW project.”
Regarding the recovery of UWEP and YLP funds, he added, “The Local Government Accounting Officers should develop strategies to ensure the timely recovery of amounts due from the groups, so that other beneficiary groups may be funded.”
https://thecooperator.news/grow-project-govt-to-create-zones-for-fair-distribution-of-funds/
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