Wednesday July 7, 2021
By: Robert Owiny
Three West Nile districts of Arua, Terego and Koboko have received three brand new vehicles from the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) under the Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (DRDIP).
The three Four-Wheel drive Nissan pick-ups were handed over to the respective Chief Administrative Officers (CAOs) of the three districts by the Director NUSAF3/DRDIP, Dr. Robert Limlim. The handover event was executed with utmost adherence to the COVID-19 standard operating procedures at the DRDIP Offices in Kampala on Wednesday 7th July 2021.
“These vehicles are given under the contractual agreement between the districts and the OPM”, Dr Limlim told the CAOs. He added, “kindly follow the provisions of the agreement. When misused, it’ll be withdrawn and re-deployed to another location in order to get value for money”.
Dr Limlim Observed that the vehicles will enhance the work of the officers to supervise DRDIP project implementations in their respective districts. He urged the accounting officers to use the project implementation manual as a key guide to ensure quality deliverance of work. The director said the transport equipment will serve three critical purposes; Supervision, Technical Monitoring and Coordination with the different actors and stakeholders. He stressed that the vehicles are strictly meant for project work and not for personal businesses.
To emphasize the need to maintain the vehicles, Dr Limlim decried the status of machineries at the districts noting that most automobiles get neglected even when they have minor problems that can be fixed at a minimum cost. “Maintenance is a big issue for government assets especially at the districts”, he said. He called upon the CAOs to support the OPM staff deployed at the districts to ensure they deliver to the expectation of the project.
Dr Lillim also pleaded with the Officers to reject all tendencies of corruption and save their own image and the image of the Government of Uganda. He advised the CAOs to get support from the Inspector General of Government whenever there are corruption related challenges.
The CAOs expressed gratitude and pledged to use the vehicles to support the realisation of the project development objectives.
DRDIP is a regional program funded by the World Bank to address the impact of hosting refugees in the Countries of; Uganda, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya. Its overall objective is to improve access to basic social services, expand economic opportunities and enhance environmental management for refugee hosting communities.
In Uganda, DRDIP is a flagship government of Uganda project being implemented under the Office of the Prime Minister in fifteen districts of; Arua, Terego, Koboko, Yumbe, Moyo, Obongi, Adjumani and Madi Okolo in the West Nile sub-region. Hoima, Kiryandongo, Kikube in the Mid-Western sub-region. Others are; Isingiro, Kamwenge and Kyegegwa in the South-Western sub-region and finally, Lamwo district in the Northern Acholi sub-region. END.
