By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Pius Bigirimana, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender and Social Development, has cautioned Chief Administrative Officers to accept the new guidelines for Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) implementation.
He advised the CAOs to resist temptation to sabotage the programme. This came after the Ministry realizing that CAOs had shown displeasure towards the newly revised mechanism, which they claim y left them with minimal responsibility over funds. CAOs were alleging that most mischief in regards to the Youth Fund is done by officials at the ministry. Bigirimana warned that any CAO found sabotaging this new arrangement will have himself to blame.
He said that “The CAOs will still receive funds for operations so that they can ensure selection and appraisal of beneficiaries before they submit them for funding. The funds sent to the CAOs will also be used to monitor implementation.” Bigirimana added that “The only thing that has been removed is disbursements. When disbursement is made, the CAOs and chair of the District Youth will get copy of the groups where money has been sent and the amount so that if there is any mischief then it can be detected; after all it will be the CAO that will have submitted the groups with the endorsement of the Chairman District Youth council.” He noted that there has been a lot of mismanagement of these funds at lower level with the youth being asked to pay before getting money. We shall fight whoever stands in our way.” He added that the youth should not be exploited.
