GULU DISABLED LEADERS BLAME FAILURE TO RECOVER REVOLVING FUND ON ACTIVISTS
By Christopher Nyeko
GULU: Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU) has blamed its failure to recover the revolving fund from the youth with disability in Acholi sub region on what it calls interference from activists in the area.
The Money is part of 300 million shillings donated by UKaid and Enhancing the Capacity of Person with Disability (ETC of PWDs) to Gulu disabled persons union to train 150 youth with disabilities in Northern Uganda in hand skill training.
Faruk Musema, the program manager GDPU explains that the project guidelines required part of the money to be used as revolving fund to enable the project beneficiaries to get start up kits in form of equipment and material to boost their already established enterprises.
Faruk discloses that accordingly eight individuals scattered in Omoro, Nwoya and Gulu districts plus Gulu city received the money ranging from 200,000 to 700,000 shillings after the assessment.
He adds that a total of 3.5 million shillings was disbursed to the beneficiaries in 2022 but they have only paid back 600,000 shillings.
Faruk blames the low recovery rate on a section of PWDs posing as activists who are misleading the beneficiaries that the money was a grant, not a loan from the donor.
“In an effort to recover the money, the Union has resorted to sensitizing the parents of the beneficiaries before employing other methods of recovery”, said Faruk.
He added that the union has temporarily halted giving the money to the other six beneficiaries who had requested for the fund until further notice.
Benson Opiyo, a beneficiary from Nwoya district who was given a Knitting Machine worth 650, 000 shillings told our reporter that he became sceptical after the PWDs activists told him not to pay back the money, claiming it was a donation.
However Jackeline Lanyero, another beneficiary of a knitting machine who has so far paid back 150,000 shilling, attributes her delay to back the whole loan to the economic hardships that are ravaging her business.
However Oryem John Bosco, one of the PWDs activists denies misleading the beneficiaries and instead blames the leadership of the GDPU for what he terms as failure to properly communicate the project guidelines to the beneficiaries.
Geoffrey Ali, the chairperson Board of trustee GDPU criticised and warned the activist against misleading the beneficiaries about the project.
Ali instead asked the activists to look for the right information about the project and pass it to the beneficiaries for the good of the disabled people in the area and the project.
