Panic in Lamwo as residents demand Minister Balam to re-edit the 11 State House scholarship beneficiaries.
BY OUR REPORTERS
LAMWO: Panic, sleepless night and frustration have gripped parts of Lamwo District over allegations of unfairness and lack of transparency in the selection criteria of beneficiaries for the State House Scholarship programme.
Several residents and local leaders are now calling on Hon. Balam Barugahara Ateenyi, Minister of Local Government, to personally rush to Lamwo and re-edit the list of beneficiaries and publicly task some leaders in Lamwo to explain the criteria they used while sellecting the 11 beneficiarie.
Speaking during an exclusive interview, Lamwo County MP Hon. Nyeko Johnson Kezekiya when asked to explain if he has recieved similar complains regarding such sellection, he said the process in Lamwo was historically suspectef to have some loophole due to lack of clarity, with concerns that some beneficiaries were not genuinely needy and that the process has to be transparent enough for better accountability.
“Historically in Lamwo it seems the process was not clear at all. Some of the beneficiaries were not supposed to benefit from the scheme,” Nyeko said.
Allegations of nepotism:
Rumours surrounding the selection criteria have continued to escalate across parts of the Acholi Sub-region including Pader and Agago District.
In Lamwo, some residents alleged that some leaders have in recent years favored their relatives, feiends and in-laws while others claimed to be connected to God Fathers or wealthy individuals, rather than disadvantaged rural students, have benefited.
Some Leaders in Padibe Town Council want Minister Balam to prioritize Lamwo on his operation list of suspected corrupt district in Acholi sub region before any other district and hold barazas in three locations of Agoro Padibe town council and Palabek Kal to address issues of DSC recruitment,suspected road funds misuse, and the scandal sorrounding the scholarship.
Some People who requested that their name be witheld from this publication, are demanding that the 11 students reportedly selected under the State House scholarship for Lamwo be presented physically to the public for verification.
“Some leaders have only selected students who are either their relatives or some of them come from a different district but not Lamwo,” a leader in Padibe said.
Alex, a resident of Agoro Sub-county, said some headteachers in some of the Government aided schools are sending pupils home daily demanding them to pay PTA, and asked Balam to intervwne to save vulnerable learners.
A mother of five in Lamwo Town Council said Minister Balam should “camp in Northern Uganda to weed out the corrupt,” citing concerns that some Lamwo district local government staff commute from Kitgum Municipality daily, report late, and leave early, yet draw monthly salaries from Govr of Uganda hence they must be exposed and scrap off payroll and replaced immediately.
When contacted, Hon. Nyeko Kezekiya said he has recently awarded over 200 scholarships to vulnerable and needy students in Lamwo “without any strings attached.”
He added that many people are not aware of how beneficiaries under the State House scholarship are selected hence they need to be enlightened.
Parliament has in recent months put pressure on government over the management and selection criteria of various student scholarship and loan scheme programmes.
Residents say they want a fresh, transparent screening process to restore public confidence in the scheme in Lamwo by hon Balam ans Justine Namere.
Attempt to get comment from Hon MP Onek Hillary Obaloker and Hon Achora Nancy was futile by press time as all their known phone numbers went unanswered.
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