Government through the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) has commenced investigations into allegations of mismanagement of funds, inflated numbers in refugee population in Uganda and suspected trafficking of girls and women refugees.
Reports came out in the press on Monday in an article by Daily Monitor in which it is said that several millions of dollars were misappropriated by officials in the Directorate of Refugees in the Office of the Prime Minister.
The article stated that the officials colluded with some people working with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to appropriate money for provisions to non existent refugees. The red flag was raised by the UN Resident Coordinator, Rosa Malango who discovered that the figures of refugees disclosed by the OPM did not collerate with the reality on the ground.
“When contacted, Ms Malango said her team periodically reviews the refugee situation and they discovered it had become pathetic,” the article published by Monitor stated.
A spot-check conducted by UN in Kampala to establish the number of refugees discovered only 7,000 refugees compared to the more than 26,000 refugees who had been declared by OPM.
In response to the reports, government through the Minister of State for Relief, Disaster Preparedness and Refugees, Musa Ecweru did not dismiss the claims but rather confirmed that investigations into the allegations have begun.
In a statement released on Monday, Ecweru said that “OPM has received reports alleging that there could have been acts of mismanagement of funds and other resources meant to cater for refugees and host communities in the country”.
“We take these allegations very seriously… as such, the leadership in OPM which oversees refugee issues in the country, in collaboration with partners is already seized with the matter,” government said in the statement.
Government said that the Office of the Prime Minister is working with stakeholders including the UN agencies in order to establish the facts and truth so as to take remedies action. The probe will be conducted in an independent manner, said the Minister.
“In this regard, government has already commenced measures to investigate these reports with a view of taking action if any are confirmed, following the outcome of these investigations,” said the statement.
In addition, Ecweru revealed that “immediate administrative measures” have been taken together with UNHCR including robust biometric registration of refugees in the country “to ensure that any possible loopholes are plugged to prevent an possible abuse”.
The investigation comes at the heels of growing security concerns among the refugees especially those living in camps who claim that some of their colleagues have been repatriated to their against their will. Sources have previously told SoftPower News that in Nakivale refugee settlement in Isingiro district, refugees of Rwandan origin have at several occasions gone missing and others killed with no action taken by either OPM or UNHCR.
According to statistics by UNHCR, Uganda hosts the biggest refugee population in the whole of Africa, currently hosting over 1.4 million refugees, majority of them who fled the ongoing civil conflict in South Sudan. Other refugees are Congolese, Rwandans, Burundians and Somalis.
Uganda has been praised by the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guetteres and several other heads of state and humanitarian stakeholders for the best refugee policy in the world described as “progressive refugee policy”. But there are fears that the latest accusations could taint this image.
