UNEARTHED: How Some Corrupt Data Entrants Diverted Covid 19 Relief Cash To Their Relatives’ Phones

By SMN Reporter

KAMPALA-SHIFTMEDIA- The distribution of the government’s Covid 19 shs100k relief cash in Kampala was riddled with controversy and ‘fraud’ we can reveal.

We can authoritatively reveal here that most of those (vulnerable poor) who were duly supposed to benefit from this relief didn’t.

In our investigations we carried out in Nakawa, Makindye, Rubaga, and Kawempe Division most of the vulnerable poor who were registered didn’t get the shs100,000 on their phones.

The registration in Kampala was dragged for days due to ‘push and pull’ between politicians and officials from the Ministry of Gender and the Office of the Prime Minister.

Rt. Hon Robinah Nabbanja last Thursday launched the distribution of COVID-19 relief funds to vulnerable citizens amidst the 42 days lockdown.

Nabbanja said shs100,000 would be sent to beneficiaries who are registered through mobile money services. While those without phones would get through the Post Bank mobile bank.

Government had targeted at least 501, 000 households to benefit from the exercise that the Premier said would end today Wednesday 14, 2021.

Though Nabbanja had said at least 50% of the targeted beneficiaries would get the cash by Thursday when she launched the exercise, this target wasn’t met.

What we discovered

Our unearthing was acknowledged by scores of the multitude of desperate FM radio phone callers who expressed anger regarding the entire process. Majority also noted that they were yet to get “Nabbanja’s cash”.

In Nakawa, our survey in Muntungo, Kitintale, Luzira, Butabika, Mbuya, revealed that the most vulnerable poor especially taxi drivers, conductors, boda boda riders, bar waitresses, and waiters, bouncers, and saloon operators didn’t get the cash.

Similarly, scores of residents we marked as vulnerable poor in Ntinda, Naguru Go down, Munaku in Rubaga, Salaama, and Ndeeba were all out in tears.

By Wednesday, 14 July 2021 Ministry of Gender and Office of the Prime Minister said they had given out cash to over 150,000.

A total of 510,000 households in municipalities and towns across the country were earmarked to benefit from the over shs50b shillings.

Prime Minister Robinah Musafiri Nabanjja earlier in the week promised to display all those who benefited from the government cash.

The move will clearly unearth the fraud that we established happened when entering people’s details in the system.

 

How IT experts paid their relatives

 

At Shift Media, our main mandate is to expose corruption especially regarding abuse of office and swindling of taxpayers’ money. We appreciate the government initiative to support the vulnerable poor, but we shall also not sit back and relax when we know some fraud happened.

In our investigations, the various Local Council I chairperson duly did their duty of registering the vulnerable poor in their areas of jurisdiction.

The fraud we unearthed was by the data entrants who entered names and numbers of beneficiaries.

We established cases where IT experts (Data entrants), the majority working with Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) entered scores of relatives as beneficiaries.

“I was duly registered by my LC Chairperson, but when my son checked in the system and my name wasn’t there, he asked for my NIN and other relatives and he fixed our names,” said a beneficiary we talked to.

This beneficiary (names withheld) revealed how over 20 of her relatives, most not categorized under those supposed to benefit got over shs2m from the relief cash.

“If it wasn’t for our son, who entered our names in the system, we wouldn’t also get. I know most vulnerable didn’t get, including many boda boda I know,” said the beneficiary.

Some data entrants we were told had friends, relatives, in-laws whom they called, asking for the details, that they entered into the system.

Some of these were either paid between shs10k to shs30k depending on the number of beneficiaries registered. And this is what we require Robinah Nabbanja investigates since she promised the exercise would be free of fraud.

Scores of the data entrants we established are so worried after Prime Minister Robinah Nabanjja announced that list of all beneficiaries would be displayed.

What we are very sure of is that when the final list is displayed, controversies are going to arise where names on the display don’t portray the beneficiaries of the cash. Watch this Space-

(Let’s fight corruption out of Uganda.)