NRM manifesto week: Govt yet to pay war claimants
LRA war survivors attend a meeting at Barlonyo Memorial Site in 2017. PHOTO | BILL OKETCH
What you need to know:
- While presenting the ministry’s performance towards achieving the NRM manifesto in Kampala last week, Mr Mao said his ministry is still waiting for Shs30b that was provided for the compensations in the 2022/2023 Budget.
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao has revealed that the government is yet to dispense Shs30b to verified war-affected households in Teso, Lango, Acholi, and West Nile in compensation for their lost property, particularly cattle, during the insurgencies that ravaged the regions.
While presenting the ministry’s performance towards achieving the NRM manifesto in Kampala last week, Mr Mao said his ministry is still waiting for Shs30b that was provided for the compensations in the 2022/2023 Budget.
He noted that the money will be used to pay 14,667 claimants who were partially paid as well as those who have never received any compensation.
“We have 14,667 claimants who were partially paid. We anticipate receiving and paying the allocated Shs30b before the close of FY 2022/2023,” Mr Mao said last Friday during the manifesto week.
He noted that of the compensation funds that were provided in the FY2021/2022, Shs676m was not received by the beneficiaries due to invalid account numbers, closed accounts, and irregular account titles.
“In FY 2021/2022, the government provided Shs50b for cattle compensation. As of April 30, 2023, the total number of claimants stood at 41,318 giving a total claim of Shs784.67b,” Mr Mao said.
“28,416 beneficiaries were cleared for payment and of those, 3,467 these were fully paid (Shs11.185b) while 14,667 claimants were partially paid Shs38.138b,” he added.
A total of 12,907 beneficiaries were not cleared for payment. Some of them were minors while others provided wrong account numbers . While launching the compensation of War Debt Claimants at Soroti City in March 2022, President Museveni said the intervention is expected to improve the livelihood of the communities through improved household income and food security.
According to the 2021/2026 NRM manifesto, the compensation programme is part of point number six of the Ten-Point Programme of NRM; ‘Restoration and improvement of social services and rehabilitation of the war-ravaged areas.’
The government earmarked Shs80b in last week’s FY2023-2024 Budget for cattle compensation in the sub-regions of Acholi, Lango and Teso.
