The Permanent Secretary Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine has been shocked to realise that Mayuge district authorities misappropriated funds meant for payment of Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs).
Last year, the Ministry recruited and trained the CHEWs to help in boosting public health at household level in the two districts of Lira and Mayuge.
Each CHEW is entitled to a monthly pay of shillings 150,000.
But according to Dr Atwine, her office has received numerous reports implicating district authorities in Mayuge of swindling the little pay meant for the health sector foot soldiers.
Dr. Atwine who was in Mayuge today, said was so dsappointed that unlike Lira, in Mayuge the officials were receiving the money and not paying it to the CHEWs.
“In Lira everyone is paid but here the district officials are not paying the CHEWs yet I use the same mode of payment to Lira District” Dr Atwine revealed
The CHEWs were recruited in November last year and they were supposed to receive their payment starting January 2023 however, some people have gone 8 months without pay.
Dr Diana Atwine reveals that on 19th Jan 2023, she released Shs 124.6m for emoluments of CHEWs then on 9th of March 2023 another batch of Shs62.3m was released, in June she sent Shs19.9m and on 28th August she released Shs62.3m all the money was put on the account of Mayuge District but unfortunately some Community Health Extension workers have never received a single coin whereas others who received some months are also not up to date.
She is demanding accountability of Shs260m meant for monthly emoluments of Community Health Extension workers.
“When they heard that I was coming they started paying some people, wherever they got the money I don’t know since the law says that the unspent money is supposed to be sent back to the treasury but these people have started spending money I sent in the previous financial year, Dr Atwine observed.
She claims that the district has also failed to account for Shs120m for Primary Health Care since the 2021/22 financial year.
“I have been left one option but to write to the Inspector General of Government to investigate the civil servants in Mayuge, since I will not allow money meant for the Health Sector to be mismanaged,” the tough-talking Atwine said.
If the problem is the District Chief Finance officer you sack him, if it is the Chief Accounting Officer who is failing to do the job the Ministry of Local Government reign on him, but the District should advertise and get a substantive District Health officer since the Acting DHO is not up to the standard of the job” Atwine told the gathering at the District headquarters.
Separately, the District Health Officer Dr Asuman Basembeza attributed the delay in paying the Community Health Extension workers to failure to provide relevant documents.
He said some CHEWs didn’t have bank accounts, others didn’t have National IDs so they delayed processing their bank accounts and the supply number as a requirement bylaw.
He promised that all the CHEWs shall get their payments for all their arrears before the end of this week.
