A fierce battle has broken out between the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Public Service and the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of Namisindwa District a one Olaboro Franco.
The two officials are bickering over a Shs1.5bn deal that the latter seems to have executed without her consent.
In a letter dated July 4 2022, by PS Catherine Birakwate Musingwire addressed to Olaboro, she spits venom saying the CAO reneged on her directives to him not to recruit extra staff away from the ceiling she gave him.
“The district was cleared to recruit a total number of 96 positions. Further clearance was given to recruit positions under Urban Unconditional grant and Agricultural Extension to consume the projected surplus of 34.4m and 271m respectively. The ministry has however, established that Namisindwa District local government violated the clearance given by recruiting numbers over and above what had been cleared” Birakwate says.
She said the state of affairs would inevitably lead to wage shortfalls and unnecessary accumulation of arrears. And yet, finance ministry already warned that any such wage shortfalls arising from such carelessness would be financed using none wage recurrent allocations of the Vote because government will not give supplementary arising out of such carelessness.
We established that under the District unconditional grant, 44 positions were cleared to cost 411m of which Olaboro recruited only 35 to earn 304m causing a shortfall of 106m.
Under Primary Health Care, 17 positions were cleared at 214m but he recruited 28 positions to cost 295m causing a shortfall of 81m.
On primary education, Olaboro was told to recruit 35 positions to cost 242m but he went out of his way and recruited 159 to cost almost a billion causing a shortfall of 737m.
Not only did he inflate the positions, but went ahead and created his own positions totaling to 54 whom he recruited under his own powers as ‘cow’ Namisindwa District without getting clearance from his ministry. Here, he recruited 54 positions to cost 754m in wage bill and therefore a salary shortfall worth the same amount.
In total, he was cleared to recruit 150 positions at 868m but he recruited 222 to cost Shs2.34bn causing a shortfall worth Shs1.57bn.
“In light of the above, this is to direct you to provide a detailed explanation on this state of affairs and show cause why disciplinary action should not be preferred against you. The explanation should reach here with five days from the date of receipt of this letter” Birakwate fumed. She copied the letter to her minister, the one of local government and auditor general.
